Structured products
Barclays launches natural resources ETF
Barclays Global Investors has launched a new exchange–traded fund (ETF) that tracks an index made up of US companies in the natural resources sector. The product lets investors gain exposure to the natural resources sector using a single security.
BNP Paribas launches first leveraged funds CDO
The leveraged funds group at French banking group BNP Paribas has launched its first collateralised debt obligation (CDO) fund focusing exclusively on Western European Leverage Buy-outs (LBOs), in a bid to strengthen its asset management business.
Lehman joint venture to offer emerging market risk measurement
Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers and New York-based political risk research firm Eurasia Group have formed a joint venture to combine Lehman's fixed-income research with Eurasia's political science expertise.
DTCC seeks to address post Sept 11op-risk concerns
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the world’s largest clearing company, has seized the initiative to address the issue of systemic operational risk concerns raised in the aftermath of the US terrorist attacks of September 11.
French banks stable following US attacks, says Moody's
International rating agency Moody’s said the credit quality of French banks will remain stable despite the uncertain economic climate in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the US. “The French banking sector continues to rank among the strongest…
Cat bond activity set for ‘dramatic’ rise, claims Stonberg
The large pay-out expected by the reinsurance industry following the terrorist attacks of September 11, combined with a recent trend towards more capitalised investment banking firms, could stimulate a “dramatic increase” in the growth of the catastrophe…
Lightening the load
Sophie Radnor looks at the increasing range of services offered by administrators
Profits taken by the truly hedged
Jeff Benjamin looks at the repercussions of the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. He asks, how hard has the market been hit and how long is recovery likely to take?
Credit derivatives in Asia need liquidity boost
Growth in activity of Asia’s credit derivatives business cannot be reached until Asian credit markets see deeper liquidity and higher turnovers in the secondary market, said a senior PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) consultant, speaking at a press conference…
S&P offers CDO manager ratings on the Web
International debt rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has begun offering evaluations of collateralised debt obligations(CDOs) managers for free on its website. While the move appears timely given the current turbulent environment for non-investment…
AFT plans launch of new Eurozone inflation bonds
French debt agency, Agency France Trésor (AFT), plans to issue new inflation-linked bonds known as OATEURi that can be used for inflation hedging and portfolio diversification, according to AFT chief executive Sylvain de Forges, speaking at a conference…
Euronext uncorks wine futures
The combined Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam bourse, Euronext, has started trading its wine futures contract, Winefex, after its launch date was postponed due to the September 11 terrorists attacks in the US. The publicly quoted exchange said it is trading…
S&P moves to rate hedge fund of funds
International rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has started to develop ratings criteria for securitisations of hedge fund of funds, due to growing interest in the past year from structured finance teams at investment banks.
Asia credit set to recover, claims ING Barings
Asian credit is set to recover by the end of the year, as domestic investors regain confidence and return to the region, according to ING Barings’ analysts, speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong today. Asian credit spreads have widened sharply in…
Garp founders to step down this week
Lev Borodovsky and Marc Lore, co-founders of the 16,000-member Global Association of Risk Professionals (Garp), will be removed as owners of the organisation within days. Under the terms of an agreement due to be reached this week, the New York- and…
Donation fuels Cambridge’s research ambitions
William Janeway, vice-chairman at Warburg Pincus, a leading New York private equity firm, has donated $10 million to the University of Cambridge’s Judge Institute business school. The money will fund research into the links between the risk management…
ACBM moves to make convertibles less risky
The Association of Convertible Bond Management (ACBM) has drawn up a series of new recommendations to protect investors from non-standard convertible bond issue terms. The standardisation and clarification guidelines are seen as an important measure to…
Preparing for the worst
Small and medium-sized banks in the US and Europe are bracing themselves for Basel II. Gallagher Polyn examines how these institutions plan to adapt to the new Accord.
Basel regulators cut op risk charge benchmark to 12%
BASEL - Global banking regulators formally acknowledged in late September some of the criticisms of their controversial proposal for an op risk capital charge. Their plan is to make large international banks set aside protective capital from 2005…
Basel regulators to study insurers' reaction to US attacks
BASEL - Bank regulators considering allowing op risk insurance a role in the proposed Basel II bank accord will study closely how the insurance industry deals with the massive insurance claims arising from the September 11 attacks in the US. So said…
EU welcomes Basel regulators' op risk paper
BRUSSELS - The European Commission, the ruling body of the European Union, welcomed the decision of global banking regulators to reduce the benchmark for an op risk capital charge to 12% from 20%, said a commission spokesman.