Risk magazine
Margin of error
Prime Brokers
Vision on
Regulation
Call of duty
Government-sponsored Enterprises
Cloud cover
Grid computing was seen as the answer to resource-intensive risk management tasks, such as derivatives pricing, scenario simulation and stress testing. But some firms are now looking at cloud computing - vast collections of computing and data resources…
Derivatives face regulatory scrutiny
The derivatives industry faces a period of heightened scrutiny by regulators, mirroring the supervisory review in the wake of a series of mis-selling scandals in the 1990s, warn bankers.
Losses and lawsuits
Monolines
Power to the people
ABCP Conduits
BoE reveals £50bn liquidity facility
Banks have welcomed a scheme by the Bank of England (BoE) aimed at improving the balance sheets of UK financial institutions. The £50 billion facility, announced on April 21, will allow financial institutions to swap illiquid mortgage-backed securities…
On thin ice
Following the near-collapse of Bear Stearns, even trades conducted with interbank dealers can no longer be considered risk-free. With so much of the derivatives market concentrated in the hands of a few dealers, what would happen if a major counterparty…
Banks urge pro-cyclicality review
The subprime crisis has sparked fears that regulators may insist on banks holding higher regulatory capital, a result some bankers insist would choke off lending and push the global economy into a recession.
Dividend option market tipped for growth
Dividend swaps have been under pressure since the onset of the credit crisis, as fears of dividend cuts have caused the historically steep curve to flatten considerably. But, despite gloomy economic forecasts, the investor base appears to be expanding,…
Can the Icelandic meltdown be avoided?
Fears over the strength of the Icelandic banking system have caused the wholesale system to shut on Icelandic banks, prompting the country’s central bank to hike interest rates to record levels. At first sight, the initiative appears to have worked, with…
New governor overhauls South Korea's financial watchdog
Kim Jong Chang, the new governor of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), has initiated a major shake-up of the country’s chief financial regulator aimed at cutting bureaucracy, streamlining operations and attracting talent from the private…
Calpers chief executive follows his CIO out of office
Fred Buenrostro, chief executive of the $244 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), has resigned, less than a week after the departure of the chief investment officer, Russell Read.
Babson appoints chief information officer
Babson Capital Management, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, has named Praveen Kumar as its new chief information officer.
Lehman makes global SWF push
Lehman Brothers has appointed Makram Azar to a new role as global head of sovereign wealth funds.
Deutsche succumbs to crisis with €141m Q1 loss
Deutsche Bank chalked up losses of €141 million for the first quarter of 2008, after digesting a €2.7 billion writedown on leveraged loan commitments, commercial real estate and residential mortgage-backed securitities (RMBS) exposures, the firm has…
Markit to launch synthetic municipal bond index
Markit plans to launch its Markit MCDX index on May 6, an index of 50 municipal bond credit default swaps (CDS).
KfW board changed in wake of IKB woes
Ingrid Matthaus-Maier has signalled her intention to retire in September from the board of KfW Bankengruppe, the Frankfurt-based federal German bank.
EC outlines changes to Capital Requirements Directive
The European Commission (EC) has launched a public consultation on over 50 technical changes to the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD), which sets out the regulatory capital financial institutions must hold to cover their liabilities.
Calyon appoints Arnold Kan for Hong Kong post
Calyon has named Arnold Kan as its deputy head of fixed-income markets for Asia excluding Japan.
Emerging markets could produce next boom-bust cycle
As regulators clamp down on securitised products, leveraged investors are racing to new markets. JP Morgan analysts say the crisis might be shifting leverage from structured products to emerging markets.