Structured products
US Wrap: JP Morgan offers fund basket exposure
JP Morgan has launched a note linked to the performance of international, emerging market and US equity funds. Investors will participate 200% in fund gains over one year, with 7% downside protection. The US equity component, the iShares Russell 3000…
FSA stress tests banks for four-year downturn
Banks in the UK must stress test their capital levels against a "worst-case" recession more severe than any since World War II, the Financial Services Authority revealed today.
US Wrap: Deutsche launches sector stock basket note
Deutsche Bank has launched an accelerated growth note offering leveraged participation in a basket of 15 stocks. The two-year note gives investors 300% of the performance of a selection of metals, mining, agriculture and energy equities more commonly…
Optimal pays $235 million to Madoff trustee
Optimal Investment Services, the Switzerland-based asset management arm of Banco Santander, has agreed to pay $235 million to the trustee responsible for liquidating Bernard Madoff's investment management firm, Bernard Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS).
Lilywhite joins Investec as head of structured solutions
Investec Capital Markets has increased its structured solutions team with the addition of Andrew Lillywhite, who has joined as London-based head of the team. Lillywhite will be responsible for developing the bank's treasury and structured product…
CDS: Spreads continue narrowing trend
Credit default swap 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (May 25)
CDS: Spreads tighten; recover after early weakness
Credit default swap 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (May 26)
US Wrap: EM and US equity offered ahead of holiday weekend
A raft of accelerated growth products were launched into the US market ahead of the holiday weekend, offering exposure to either emerging markets or domestic equity. Nearly all the products are short tenor, bar one offering from Morgan Stanley which…
FDIC taps insured banks for funds as reserves dwindle
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is to levy an additional five-basis-point special assessment charge on depository institutions at the end of the third quarter to boost its fast-dwindling deposit insurance fund (DIF).
CESR: Rating agencies still not following rules on structured products
The major credit rating agencies are broadly compliant with the code of conduct recommended by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco), but are still failing to tighten the rules on structured product ratings, according to…
Remuneration revisited
Daily news headlines
Emerging markets sector funds listed on NYSE
Emerging Global Shares has launched two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Arca platform of the New York Stock Exchange, the first offerings from the provider on NYSE. One fund offers exposure to emerging markets metals and mining, while the other…
Duggan offers credit and equity play
Duggan Asset Management, a Dublin-based niche investment firm, has launched a 100% capital protected deposit-based structured product - called the Credit Bond. The product is designed to give investors exposure to the high-yield credit market by…
Audit finds OTS helped banks cook their books
The US Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the financial regulator responsible for overseeing mortgage lenders such as Washington Mutual and IndyMac, helped several institutions break accounting rules by backdating capital contributions last year to…
Why the regional Federal Reserve banks are up in arms
A number of presidents of regional Federal Reserve banks and senior staff have recently expressed dissent from the official line taken by the US authorities in managing the banking crisis.
Isda to review collateral dispute process
The derivatives industry is working towards formalising the resolution process for collateral disputes after existing resolution methods proved inadequate during the financial crisis.
CDS: Spreads widen on equities sell-off
Credit default swap 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (May 21)
US Wrap: Barclays reverses from convertibles into growth
Barclays Bank has released an accelerated growth chaser to the plethora of reverse convertible notes it has launched over the past week. The note is one of the emerging markets plays now beginning to make more regular appearances in the market as…
PBGC deficit triples to record $33.5 billion
The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has posted a record deficit of $33.5 billion for the six months to March 31, tripling its previous deficit of $11 billion for the 2008 financial year.
US municipal market faces clean-up under new rules
The municipal bond market in the US is still largely in a state of disarray, well over a year after the collapse of the auction rate securities (ARS) sector, though signs of recovery are visible in the fixed-rated debt market, congressmen have heard.
Keydata launches seventeenth tranche of growth plan
Keydata, the UK structured products distributor, has launched issue 17 of its Dynamic Growth Plan Plus. The plan gives investors who may have lost significant amounts of money over the last 18 months with traditional long only managers a chance to…
CDS: Spreads tighten sharply tracking equity rally
Credit default swap 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (May 19)
US wrap: RBC confirms reverse convertible rally
The reverse convertible flood has continued in the US market, largely helped by Royal Bank of Canada which has just launched 16 of the notes. Barclays has launched an additional two notes, bringing its total to 35 for the latest bout of issuance, ABN…
CDS: Spreads narrow again
Credit default swap 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (May 20)