Structured products
Structured Products House of the Year - BNP Paribas
Risk Awards 2008
Write-downs mount in run-up to Christmas
Bear Stearns is the latest in a string of banks forced to reveal higher write-downs than expected.
CPDO ratings hang in the balance
Investors in constant proportion debt obligations (CPDOs) were given an unwanted early Christmas present by rating agencies, as Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Moody’s Investors Service put the ratings of CPDO notes on review for a possible downgrade.
Monolines in a world of pain
The shockwaves emanating from the monoline industry show no signs of easing up before Christmas. It had seemed that the pressure was abating, as the beleaguered financial guarantors had started to secure some much-needed capital to bolster their ratings,…
Merrill Lynch launches carbon certificate
Investment bank Merrill Lynch today launched an index-based investment certificate that offers protected exposure to the stocks of carbon efficient European companies.
Dry market forces ABX roll delay
Market information provider Markit has postponed the next roll of its ABX.HE index, due on January 19, for three months.
Barclays releases Super Tracker plan as dual option
Barclays Wealth will release the Super Tracker plan, on January 1 2008, in the form of a dual option, which will allow investors to potentially double their investment from a 10% rise in the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index. The growth product is a five-year…
More subprime writedowns at Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley has taken a total of $9.4 billion in mortgage-related writedowns in the fourth quarter, causing it to lose $3.6 billion, it announced today.
Italease to launch securitisation repo
Troubled Milanese leasing specialist Banca Italease plans to securitise an €800 million portion of its lease portfolio, structured with ABN Amro.
New year brings funding challenges for SIVs
The pressure on structured investment vehicles (SIVs) will grow in the new year as their medium-term notes come up for renewal, investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort has warned.
Goldman Sachs launches tradeable mortality index
Goldman Sachs has launched a tradeable mortality index based on a pool of US senior citizens.
Goldman $3.2bn profit masks $600m subprime writedown
Goldman Sachs has posted impressive returns for the last quarter of 2007, but has confirmed losses of around $600 million in its mortgage business.
Meteor launches new protected commodities plan
UK-based distributor Meteor has launched a new protected commodities plan with two participation rates according to the level of capital risk. The Galaxy Protected Investment Plan 4 is linked to a basket of eight equally weighted hard and soft…
Citi bails out struggling SIVs
Citigroup has bailed out seven of its own structured investment vehicles (SIVs), taking their $49 billion in non-cash assets onto its own balance sheet, as they continue to reduce in size.
Central banks offer $20bn auctions to revive liquidity
The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the central banks of the UK, Canada and Switzerland have agreed upon a series of auctions to provide billions for credit-starved financial institutions.
Dow Jones feeling Olympic
Dow Jones Indexes has launched the Dow Jones 2008 Summer Games Index which is designed to track the performance of companies that are official partners, sponsors and suppliers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.