Standard & Poor’s
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,…
S&P unveils CDS indexes
Index provider Standard & Poor's Index Services (S&P) has launched three US credit default swap (CDS) indexes designed to evaluate the performance of the credit derivatives market.
Sovereign CDSs at record levels
The cost of credit protection on the sovereign debt of Spain, Portugal and Ireland reached all-time highs in intraday trading this morning.
CDSs widen on Spanish banks
The cost of credit protection on a wide range of firms fell in early trading today, while spreads widened on Spanish financials and US sovereign debt.
European Commission initiates legal action against Standard & Poor's
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S&P creates ombudsman role
In an effort to "strengthen its ratings process, increase transparency and better serve capital markets", rating agency Standard & Poor's has appointed Ray Groves to the newly created position of ombudsman, effective February 16.
S&P predicts defaults to snowball in 2009 and 2010
A fifth of European speculative-grade companies could default by 2010, a report released on Wednesday by Standard and Poor's (S&P) stated.
S&P: AAA RMBS writedowns will be minimal
AAA rated tranches of US subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) will be written down by less than 1%, despite heavy losses on the underlying mortgages, rating agency Standard & Poor's predicts.
More ABS losses to come on Alt-A, auto loans and credit cards
While defaults and delinquencies on subprime mortgages appear to have peaked, losses on prime mortgages and other prime collateral referenced by asset-backed securities (ABS), such as auto loans and credit cards, are expected to keep rising.
Cat bonds go against the grain of the credit crisis
Catastrophe bonds (cat bonds) have been one of the few asset classes to prove resilient to the capital markets' turbulence over the past year.
S&P names David Jacob as head of structured finance ratings
Standard & Poor’s has appointed David Jacob as head of structured finance ratings. He replaces Vickie Tillman, who has been acting head since January, when Joanne Rose became executive managing director for risk and quality policy.
Iosco says regulators should monitor and inspect rating agencies
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco) has recommended regulators monitor and inspect rating agencies to check whether they are following its code of conduct.
S&P outlines "stability" changes to structured product ratings
US rating agency Standard & Poor's has outlined its proposal to include credit stability in its rating process, which could see severe downgrades for many volatile structured credit products.
Downgrades not the end of CPDO market
The last few months have seen massive downgrades of constant proportion debt obligations (CPDOs), but the worst could be over for the sector.
Insurers show mixed reaction towards ERM
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JP Morgan and Munich Re enter mortality bond market
JP Morgan has placed $100 million of extreme mortality bonds for reinsurer Munich Re, in the first foray into the mortality bond market for both firms.
CPDOs suffer more downgrades
Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded 28 of the 29 constant proportion debt obligation (CPDO) transactions it rates.
CDOs of ABSs "in deep trouble"
Ninety-eight collateralised debt obligations of asset-backed securities (CDOs of ABSs) rated by New York-based Standard and Poor’s (S&P) have reached so-called events of default (EODs).
Standard & Poor’s pledges to reform the credit rating process
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S&P promises reforms as regulators ponder ratings oversight
Rating agency Standard & Poor's has revealed a list of planned changes aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and restoring confidence in its ratings, as an international regulators' conference suggested tighter restrictions on rating agencies.
S&P makes further mass RMBS downgrades
Standard & Poor’s has downgraded 6,389 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) supported by subprime collateral and has placed 1,953 collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) of asset-backed securities on credit watch, in a dire assessment of the…
Bad timing for Basel II
The Basel II regulations on capital adequacy came into effect on January 1 this year. Although they were intended to produce more flexible and refined methods of calculating capital requirements, some are pessimistic about how the new rules will affect…
Agencies rethink market risk rating methods
The three largest global rating agencies are reconsidering their approach to rating structures exposed to fluctuations in market value, with potentially unpalatable results for holders and arrangers of various structured credit products.