Structured products
CDS: Mizuho tightens to 95bp as market slips wider
Credit default swaps 5-year mid-levels for structured products issuers (Thursday January 29)
Lyxor launches ETFs on platform for IFAs
Lyxor Asset Management has released its UK range of 30 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on to Ascentric, a whole of market wrap platform, making the range available to independent financial advisors (IFAs). Lyxor says IFAs are becoming an increasingly…
US Wrap: Week end fillip with 16 new issues
Issuance finally picked up in the US market yesterday with 16 new products launched by eight providers. S&P 500-linked products remain the firm favourite, with 13 of the launches offering exposure to the index.
Fiscal strain poses challenges for monolines
Continuing fiscal strain has heightened concerns over the fate of the new municipal monoline bond insurers.
RWE Supply & Trading opens Dubai office
RWE Supply & Trading opened an office in Dubai this month to cover activities in the natural gas and LNG markets.
Derivatives trades rise on falling rouble
Forex derivatives volumes have soared in Russia as investors react to the plunging value of the rouble.
CDS: US banks tighten again
Credit default swaps 5-year senior mid-levels for structured products issuers (Wednesday January 28)
US Wrap: Issuers get bullish on S&P 500 recovery
Six products were launched into the US market yesterday, accelerating a subdued week. Morgan Stanley added to its previous launches with two reverse convertibles, while Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs both launched accelerated growth products. Four of…
Barclays targets growth
Barclays Wealth has launched the Target Growth Plan, which is designed to provide exposure to the FTSE 100 index and offers a potential return of 55%.
US agriculture committee plans to ban naked CDSs
The US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture has published a draft bill seeking to limit the holding of credit default swap (CDS) contracts to market participants owning the bonds of the reference entity in question.
CDS: European banks regain favour
Credit default swaps 5-year senior mid-levels for structured products issuers (Tuesday January 27)
US Wrap: Morgan Stanley gets in the straddle
Three products were launched into the US market yesterday, continuing a subdued week in the space. Morgan Stanley issued two products, which were both linked to the S&P 500, following the trend of issues banking on a recovery in US equity markets.
Lyxor lays claim to largest equity ETF in Europe
Lyxor Asset Management has retained its status as manager of the largest equity exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe. The Lyxor ETF DJ Euro Stoxx 50, which accrued €5.147 billion in assets under management (AUM) by the end of 2008, gathered €1.5 billion…
UBS served with arbitration claim over Lehman notes
UBS has been served with an arbitration claim by a Florida law firm on behalf of an elementary school teacher, who lost over US$100,000 purchasing Lehman principal protected notes from the bank's brokerage arm.
FOMC holds rates as spectre of quantitative easing looms
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has kept its target for US interest rates at between 0-25 basis points as the Federal Reserve reiterated its commitment to use new tools to fight the worsening economic downturn.
FFA market shifts further towards clearing
Fears of counterparty credit risk have led to a sharp migration towards clearing in the freight derivatives market over the past four months. The ratio of cleared forward freight agreement (FFA) trades to non-cleared over-the-counter trades in the last…
Total moves to boost oil sands involvement
Total E&P Canada has announced an offer to acquire Toronto-listed UTS Energy (UTS) for C$617m.
CDS: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BoA spreads tighten
Credit default swap 5-year senior mid-levels for structured products issuers (Monday January 26)
US Wrap: Trickle of reverse convertibles begins week
Two reverse convertibles have been launched into the US market by ABN Amro, kicking off a slow start to the week. Both notes have a maturity of three months. One offers exposure to US energy company First Solar Energy, which manufactures solar panels…
Nomura downgraded after $3.8 billion Q3 loss
Nomura Holdings, Japan's leading brokerage, has announced a third quarter loss of ¥342.9 billion ($3.8 billion). The financial services company said the losses were driven by a series of "one-off" losses from exposure to Madoff funds, Icelandic banks,…
Quantitative tests pointed to Madoff fraud, says Riskdata
Sophisticated investors expressed shock at the alleged $50 billion fraud by New York-based broker and fund manager Bernard Madoff, yet even relatively simple quantitative analysis should have raised red flags, according to research by London-based…
Babson Capital Management expands new business arm
Massachusetts-headquartered Babson Capital Management has expanded its global business development arm, with the additions of Paul Gehrig and David Acampora.
Deutsche unveils first ETF linked to global sovereign bond index
Db x-trackers, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) arm of Deutsche Bank, has released an ETF tracking a global sovereign bond index, listed on the Deutsche Börse. The ETF is based on the DB Global Investment Grade Government Eur Hedged Index, which provides…
CDS: European banks widen
Credit default swap 5-year senior mid-levels for structured products issuers (Friday January 23)