Risk magazine
Interbank lending still under pressure
Interbank lending markets remained under stress today, despite large injections of liquidity by the world’s central banks.
Barclays buys Lehman's capital markets business in the US
Barclays has acquired Lehman Brothers' US investment banking and capital markets businesses, including its derivatives operations, for $250 million.
US government takes control of AIG
The US Federal Reserve Board has agreed to lend struggling insurance company American International Group (AIG) up to $85 billion, in return for a 79.9% equity stake in the firm.
Fed asks Treasury for supplementary funding
The US Treasury department is creating a temporary supplementary funding programme at the request of the Federal Reserve. The initiative has been devised to manage the balance-sheet impact of the Fed’s lending and liquidity operations, and ensure it can…
Merrill Lynch proposed its own sale to Bank of America, says CEO
Merrill Lynch approached Bank of America regarding its possible acquisition, its chief executive has confirmed, as both companies provided more detail around the merger. They also sought to quash concerns the hastily thrashed out deal did not provide…
Lehman Brothers bankruptcy to be largest in history
The liquidation of Lehman Brothers will be the largest bankruptcy in history, with the defunct investment bank holding consolidated assets of $639 billion and liabilities of $613 billion as of May 31, 2008, according to court documents.
AIG secures £20 billion bridge loan, but still downgraded
Struggling US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) was granted permission yesterday to access assets from its own subsidiaries, enabling it to raise around $20 billion in additional capital.
Bank CDS spreads widen dramatically following Lehman collapse
The cost of protection on credit default swaps (CDSs) referenced to the world’s largest financial institutions has skyrocketed as Lehman Brother’s bankruptcy has heightened counterparty credit risk concerns.
Lehman Brothers Japan seeks bankruptcy protection
Lehman Brothers Holdings Japan started bankruptcy protection proceedings in Tokyo today. Under Japanese law, Lehman Japan will be “prohibited from payment of obligations based on the causes [that] arose on or before September 15, 2008, excluding certain…
Lehman unwind could take years, says PWC
Unwinding the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets and liabilities held by Lehman Brothers could take years, according to Tony Lomas, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which has been appointed administrator to Lehman Brothers…
Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection
Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy. In an announcement early this morning, the firm said it intended to file a petition under Chapter 11 with the Southern District Court of New York.
Bank of America buys Merrill Lynch for $50 billion
Bank of America announced today it will acquire Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock deal, rounding off an explosive weekend on Wall Street.
No respite for Lehman after loss warning
Chief executive Richard Fuld’s plan to rescue Lehman Brothers by selling off many of its operations has failed to stem a fall in market confidence, after the bank predicted record losses in the third quarter of this year.
RBS names head of Japanese credit trading
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed Theodore Lo as head of credit trading in Japan.
Interdealer brokers’ merger talks break down again
Stock prices of interdealer brokers Tullett Prebon and GFI Group plummeted on Tuesday, as a failure “to reach acceptable economic terms” halted ongoing merger talks.
Fannie and Freddie CDS to settle at October auction
The auction process to settle credit default swap (CDS) contracts written against Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will take place in the first week of October, Risk has learned, although losses on the agreements are likely to be minor for most counterparties.
Ratings down and defaults up at Moody's
New York-based ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service reports downgrades in derivatives outlooks and increases in defaults.
Calyon cuts back derivatives operations
Calyon will cut 500 jobs and pull out of the structured credit and derivatives markets as part of a plan to survive the market downturn.
Axa names fixed-income CIO
Chris Iggo, formerly a senior strategist on the investment strategy team, has been appointed Axa Investment Managers’ chief investment officer of fixed income, a newly created position.
RBS creates FI sales head post for Asia ex-Japan
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has hired Manish Mahajan in a newly created role as head of sales for financial institutions (FI) for Asia excluding Japan. He joins from Deutsche Bank in Singapore, where he was head of rates sales and strategic solutions…
Old Mutual’s CEO resigns after facing writedowns
Jim Sutcliffe, chief executive of London-based financial services company Old Mutual, has resigned from the firm after it reported it would face heavy writedowns in its US life insurance division, US Life.
RBS names head of forex trading, Americas
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed Christiane Mandell as head of foreign exchange (forex) and local markets trading for the Americas, based in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Fitch nears end of global CDO review
Almost a year on from its global collateralised debt obligation (CDO) ratings embargo, Fitch Ratings is months away from determining the final status of ratings on hundreds of corporate CDOs.
CPDOs under review as Moody’s announces further error
New York-based ratings agency Moody’s Investor Services announced on September 4 it might downgrade several constant proportion debt obligations (CPDOs) after discovering another error in its securities monitoring.