Standard & Poor’s
Credit swap spreads edge out on Iraq war fears
Spreads in the credit default swap market started widening in trading this week, as sellers of credit protection left the market due to increasing uncertainty about a quick resolution of the US-led invasion of Iraq, London-based traders said today.
Rating agencies open can of worms
NEW YORK — Rating agencies are coming under much closer scrutiny as providers of operational risk analysis, as a result of the Basel Accord revisions and recent US corporate scandals.
Poor auto sales and Fiat downgrade drives some spreads wider
The downgrade of debt issued by troubled Italian auto manufacturer Fiat to junk status sent the cost of its credit protection wider by about 125 basis points to 875/975bp. And poor US February auto sales released mid-week also prompted the widening on…
IDC finalises S&P Comstock acquisition
Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) has purchased S&P ComStock, a real-time information service providing financial data from more than 180 stock exchanges worldwide.
Credit watch
Risk management and analytics firm RiskMetrics gives this month’s analysis of energy companies’ credit quality using its CreditGrades tool
Ahold credit protection trading on upfront-only basis
Credit protection for Dutch retailer Ahold is now trading on an upfront basis only following the company's admission of accounting irregularities.
BIS paper slams rating agencies
A new paper just published by the Bank for International Settlements' Monetary and Economic Department, titled 'Are credit ratings procyclical?' takes a critical view of rating agencies' activities.
ThyssenKrupp downgrade prompts spread widening
The cost of protection on ThyssenKrupp widened by up to 150bp in trading this morning, following its downgrade to junk by rating agency Standard and Poor’s. The downgrade prompted renewed fears about the pension liabilities faced by Thyssen and 11 other…
IAS will inject volatility into financial statements, says S&P
The required adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS) for publicly listed European Union banks by 2005 is set to boost not only the transparency, but also the volatility of these institutions' financial statements in coming years, rating…
IAS will inject volatility into financial statements, says S&P
The required adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS) for publicly listed European Union banks by 2005 is set to boost not only the transparency, but also the volatility of these institutions' financial statements in coming years, rating…
Terror threats push up European credit default spreads
Credit default swap spreads for European corporates started to widen during the later part of this week. Fears of a terrorist attack in London or elsewhere, coupled with generally weak equity markets, started to reduce confidence in the market, traders…
Emerging market credit quality improving, says S&P
Emerging market credit quality is “on the mend”, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s, but Latin America faces the biggest vulnerability among the regions.
European corporate credit spreads contract; retail sector sees negative basis
Credit default swap levels for the European corporate sector are tightening again, according to London-based traders. In relatively light flows, the cost of protection for industrials, retailers and utilities narrowed between 3 basis points to 10bp in…
Pension deficit concern sparks demand for default protection
Traders saw a marked increase in volumes for credit protection, following a credit watch alert by rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on 12 major European corporations earlier today. S&P today warned that the companies, including Sainsbury’s, Rolls…
Germany’s DZ Bank takes €100 million-plus swaps hit
DZ Bank, the largest central co-operative bank in Germany, has made significant trading losses from its zero-coupon interest rate swaps positions.
US pipelines follow the market
Todd Shipman of credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s finds that pipeline companies in the US will face more market risk than regulatory risk in the coming year
Italian securitisation volumes slightly up on last year
The Italian securitisation market saw minimal growth last year, according to reports from the two major rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Moody’s estimated a total of €36.7 billion in credit risk transferred – a 16% rise compared with…
Credit spreads widen as equity continues falling
Falling equities and the increased likelihood of conflict in Iraq continued to drive spreads wider in the credit derivatives market this week.
Niche lenders brace for Basel
Banks with niche lending businesses are scrambling to assemble enough data to allow them to benefit from Basel II's most advantageous capital provisions. Gallagher Polyn reports on one successful initiative.
Corporate defaults at new record levels last year, says S&P
Global corporate defaults last year were at new record levels, with 234 companies defaulting on $178 billion of debt, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P).
CDO managers target leveraged loans, says S&P
European collateralised debt obligation (CDO) managers are likely to target leveraged loans this year, said the European structured finance ratings unit of Standard & Poor's (S&P) today.
S&P exits data business with sale of ComStock to Interactive Data
Interactive Data Corp, a unit of UK media company Pearson, has agreed to buy Standard & Poor’s (S&P) ComStock for $115 million in cash, adding real-time market data to its stable of products.
Italian government spreads widen on ratings change
Italian bond spreads widened nearly two basis points against the euro swaps curve, following yesterday's announcement by credit agency Standard & Poor’s that it has revised its ratings outlook on the country from stable to negative. By the end of the day…
New issuers needed for French securitisation market, says S&P
New issuers must be attracted if funded issuance in the French securitisation market is to continue to grow, according to Nicolas Malaterre, a Paris-based associate director in Standard and Poor’s European structured finance ratings group.