Standard & Poor’s
A wrong-way bet
China Aviation Oil (CAO) revealed in late November that it had lost $550 million through trading oil derivatives – but not before its Chinese parent sold $108 million in CAO shares. By Nick Sawyer, with additional reporting by Jill Wong
Barclays to issue commodity-backed CDO
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of London-based Barclays Bank, is to issue a synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO), backed by a series of commodity swaps.
S&P warns banks against reducing capital too soon in anticipation of Basel II
Standard and Poor's will review, and possibly downgrade, issuers that will be found to have reduced their capital levels in anticipation of the effect of the new Basel Accord, also known as Basel II, according to Paris-based Scott Bugie, the rating firm…
EBRD selects S&P portfolio risk tool
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has chosen Standard & Poor’s (S&P) portfolio risk tracker (PRT) tool for its treasury operations. The move represents a blow to rivals Moody’s KMV and RiskMetrics, whose product, CreditManager,…
Data crisis coming, says S&P
Financial institutions must start sorting through their large amounts of credit risk data to recognise the right information they need for the purposes of Basel II credit risk measurements, according to Ken Hoffman, the director of Digital Feed Products,…
CME to convert equity index options to European-style expiration
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has said it will convert all its equity index options to European-style expiration by the end of the year as part of an aggressive growth strategy.
S&P strengthens in risk solutions
Standard and Poor’s has made two appointments to its risk solutions team in New York.
Corporate Statement > What it takes: Turning Basel II Compliance into a Competitive Edge
The heat is on. The ideals and debates have given way to the hard realities of compliance, and time is running out. But rather than engage in a reactive scramble to demonstrate compliance, firms can use the regulatory imperatives of Basel II as an…
Default rate in EU to decelerate further, says S&P
Default rates in the European Union (EU) are set to decline further, following a dramatic decrease last year, said rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
NAB credit rating unaffected by FX options losses, says S&P
The credit rating of National Australia Bank is unaffected following the disclosure of unauthorised foreign exchange transactions, rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said today.
NAB credit rating unaffected by FX options losses, says S&P
The credit rating of National Australia Bank is unaffected following the disclosure of unauthorised foreign exchange transactions, rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said today. The losses, expected to result in pre-tax forex option losses of A$180…
BOCI launches CLNs for retail investors in Hong Kong
Bank of China International (BOCI) has launched its first credit-linked investment product for Hong Kong’s retail investors.
No Nera for agencies
Moody's and S&P claim that a recently commissioned study supports their belief that not all agencies' ratings are equal. Fitch, meanwhile, takes a different line of argument. Saskia Scholtes examines the notches that have driven a wedge between the…
Strong CDO market next year, says S&P
The pipeline of collateralised debt obligation (CDO) deals remains “extremely strong”, promising a busy start to 2004, especially for single-tranche, leveraged loan and CDOs of asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions, said credit rating agency…
Parmalat CDS spreads hit 47% after six-notch S&P downgrade
The cost of five-year credit protection on debt issued by Parmalat closed at 4,000bp/4,300bp above Libor today after rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) cut the Italian dairy company’s credit rating to 'C' – its second-lowest rating.
Credit derivatives not yet helping banks' risk management, says S&P
Credit derivatives are not yet helping banks to hedge their risks, says a report from rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
European corporate credit to remain fragile, says S&P
The creditworthiness of European companies and financial institutions is unlikely to recover significantly next year, rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said today.
Australia a hotbed for CLN issuance
Credit-linked notes (CLN) issuance has soared in Australia this year, with the volume of rated notes exceeding A$1.2 billion ($881.3 million) year-to-date, compared with A$240 million in 2002, according to Mei Lee Da Silva, credit analyst in Standard and…
OCBC and Deutsche offer $1 billion synthetic CDO
Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and Deutsche Bank have launched a managed synthetic investment-grade collateralised debt obligation (CDO) transaction worth $1 billion. 'OCBC global investment grade CDO 1' went on sale this week.
Nomura analyst sceptical about Nera's ratings study
Research by National Economic Research Associates' (Nera) economic consulting division comparing different rating agencies' rating processes has been described as "disappointingly inconclusive" by Mark Adelson, a New York-based securitisation and asset…
S&P versus Basel II: A fragile accord
By publicly casting doubt over aspects of the Basel II Accord's methodology, rating agency Standard & Poor's is voicing concerns shared by many in the banking industry. Joanne Hart asks how this dispute may affect bondholders and the market in general.
S&P updates its CDO Evaluator
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has released the latest version of its CDO [collateralised debt obligation] Evaluator system, which is used by CDO structurers to evaluate the credit risk of their products.
Korean consumer default likely to affect Asian securitisation, says S&P
The deteriorating credit quality of South Korea’s securitised credit card portfolios has not only meant Korean asset-backed securities issuance has ground almost to a halt this year, but that it is likely to negatively affect consumer finance…