Risk magazine - Volume 23/Number 7
Articles in this issue
Data spikes pose problems for risk management
Recent crises have drummed home that banks need to calculate risk exposures in as close to real time as possible. To do that, risk managers need to process huge amounts of data, but current systems often lack the capability. How can banks address this…
The risks of tailoring credit default swaps
Credit portfolio managers could tailor credit default swap hedges as financial guarantees to avoid accounting mismatches on their balance sheet. However, the technique exposes credit hedgers to increased costs and basis risk, argues Dirk Schubert
Beyond distributional analysis
In the third article in a four-part series, David Rowe considers the need for financial risk management to move beyond distributional analysis to consider more qualitative inputs
Subdued times for buyouts
Dan DeKeizer, chief executive of MetLife Assurance, talks to Alexander Campbell
Dealing with funding on uncollateralised swaps
Many banks are now using their own cost of funding as a discount rate when pricing non-collateralised swaps trades. How are banks dealing with the difference in funding rates when quoting derivatives prices, and could this influence a client’s choice of…
Factors on demand
Attilio Meucci introduces a multi-asset-class return decomposition framework that extends beyond the standard systematic-plus-idiosyncratic approach. This framework, which rests on the conditional link between flexible bottom-up estimation factor models…
Pricing distressed CDOs with base correlation and stochastic recovery rates
In 2008 and 2009, the calibration of the standard Gaussian copula model for collateralised debt obligations has frequently broken down. To overcome that problem, Martin Krekel has embedded the model with correlated stochastic recovery rates. He shows…
Dodd-Frank bill sparks end-user margin fears
Reform bill ambiguity means end-users might have to post margin even if they don't clear swaps.
CDS lessons from the emerging markets
Eurozone politicians are pushing for a ban on naked sovereign credit default swaps (CDSs) – but the eurozone CDS market is relatively young. In emerging markets, where it has a longer history, CDSs are sometimes the hero, sometimes the villain – and…
Sparring over global valuation
Dealers have typically used a variety of pricing models that are specific to certain asset classes and instruments. But is it possible for banks to build global models that can be used to price instruments across asset classes? Matt Cameron reports
Profile - Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Theo Lubke
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been shepherding global efforts to improve the over-the-counter derivatives market since 2005 and continues to push dealers to improve in areas such as transparency and central clearing. Theo Lubke, senior vice…
Questioning collateral
European financial markets have been turned upside down by the sovereign debt crisis, with eurozone government bonds no longer regarded as completely risk-free. As a result, dealers are more wary of the correlation inherent in collateral denominated in…
Are the CFTC, SEC and Fed equipped for their new powers?
Despite a last-minute hitch, the final text of ambitious financial regulatory reform legislation was agreed last month, which would hand supervisors sweeping new powers over financial institutions. But are regulators equipped for their new…
EU regulators ready to act in concert?
The European Union is close to reaching agreement on a new supervisory framework, designed to reduce the room for national discretion. But Germany’s recent short-selling ban shows domestic supervisors are not afraid to go their own way to protect…
Surviving skew
Skew skyrocketed in May, breaking through levels last reached in 2008 after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, while volatility and correlation also spiked. The dislocations are rumoured to have caused losses for some exotic equity books. How did dealers…
Regulation to reshape bank funding
Contrasting regulation for buyers and issuers of bank paper is adding to stress in funding markets.
EBF expansion of Euribor set to increase euro benchmarks gap
Changes are planned to a key euro rates benchmark - and it could have a number of knock-on effects.
Credit expert findings should help revise new impairment standard, says IASB
A proposed new approach to loan loss accounting is proving a tough nut to crack, but standard-setters say progress has been made.
No changes yet as Basel III redrafting looms
Basel Committee members are seeking to fend off speculation they have already decided to abandon or rewrite key elements of their proposals.
US regulatory reform reaches tipping point
It's not quite over yet, but the text of the Dodd-Frank bill has been agreed and derivatives users have cause for both celebration and concern.
Energy companies face up to clearing requirements
Elimination of a catch-all clearing exemption in US financial reform legislation looks like bad news for big energy companies – the industry warns mandatory derivatives clearing will do untold harm. Peter Madigan reports
Dodd-Frank raises stakes in CFTC's push for energy position limits
With the Commodity Futures Trading Commission poised to implement position limits in energy markets, how will a dramatic expansion of the regulator’s power affect those plans? By John Ferry
The dangers of a more liquid gold market
With other safe haven assets looking increasingly risky, investors are turning to gold in unprecedented numbers – but a more liquid market may turn out to have pitfalls in the long term. By Alexander Campbell
Riksbank's Persson: Making the European financial system safer
Regulators and politicians know what needs to be done to put the eurozone on an even keel and fix the holes exposed by the subprime crisis, says Mattias Persson, head of financial stability at the Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank. The result will…
Data not judgement required for Nordic banks' Basel approach
Nordic banks want to use the Basel framework’s advanced approach to credit risk capital, but local regulators are insistent that data – rather than judgement – has to be the basis for the calculations. Banks don’t have enough instances of default in…
Nordic markets warm to central clearing
Regulators across the globe are intent on forcing over-the-counter derivatives through central clearing. How are supervisors in the Nordic region responding, and could the relative lack of liquidity in domestic markets hamper their efforts? By…
Liquidity risk management sponsored forum: Experience shared is a lesson learned
The financial crisis showed that not nearly enough attention had been paid to liquidity risk management by either banks or supervisors. Extensive regulation has been proposed in response, but what will this mean for the financial sector? A group of…
