Derivatives
EU convenes working party on derivatives
Daily news headlines
Collateral damage
The practice of posting collateral against the risk of failed derivatives trades may protect dealers from the worst of the losses arising from Lehman's bankruptcy, says Joseph Pimbley. But what about trades that were not covered by such collateral…
Sunk by correlation
Equity Derivatives
A fruitful time for hybrids
Structurers are coming up with novel ways of tapping investor demand for credit-linked products without the default risk associated with the previous generation of structured products. Their answer? Hybrids. Regis Benichou and Arnaud Scemama of Calyon…
Asian retail focus
The process of tempting Asian retail investors back to credit has been an uphill struggle for distributors, who have tried to stimulate interest with a series of structured first-to-default notes that give sovereign exposure. But heavy mark-to-market…
Structured credit's re-formation
The structured credit market has been blamed for much of the turmoil in credit and, by association, the wider global economy. But many market participants remain convinced that structured credit has a major role to play in the financial landscape of the…
Jeff Sprecher & Sunil Hirani
The chairman and CEO of derivatives exchange ICE and the CEO of derivatives processing firm Creditex talk about the companies' recent merger, and how the CDS markets will cope with a unique set of challenges ahead
Called to account
Dealers have criticised fair value accounting on illiquid assets as exacerbating the subprime crisis. A growing number of banks and industry bodies have called for a suspension of mark-to-market accounting for illiquid instruments. Are the accounting…
What's it all worth?
When financial markets grind to a halt and liquidity dries up, assessing the value of securities is a notoriously difficult process. Andrew Krull, MD of BlackRock Solutions, talks about how the firm goes about determining fair valuation and appraising…
The ABX index: A pricing conundrum
The liquidity crisis in the ABS market has led to investors using the ABX index as a valuation tool for individual securities - something the index was never designed for. Ben Logan explains the ramifications of this valuation practice
The squeeze is on - The clampdown on CDO ratings
The rating agencies have faced a barrage of criticism over their role in last year's subprime meltdown. This year they have been focusing on ensuring that a repeat of the ABS problems do not occur in other segments of the structured credit market. But…
Hybrids - The alchemists
Much like the early scientists of the Middle Ages who tried to turn base metal into gold, today's financial engineers are wrestling with the task of changing relatively worthless structured credit products into commercially viable and marketable assets…
Q&A: Samir Pandiri
Evaluating structured credit deals in the current environment is a challenge. The head of international corporate trust at Bank of New York Mellon talks diversity, independence and standardisation
After the storm
The structured credit market has been battered by recent events, with investors retreating to the high ground. But now that signs of calm are returning, what kinds of structures can investors look forward to? Hardeep Dhillon reports
Drying up down under
Liquidity in Australia's nascent structured credit market has suffered as a result of the subprime squeeze, leading to an inevitable bout of finger-pointing. Marion Williams reports
Herd mentality
The unbridled success of the credit derivatives market over the past few years - until last summer, that is - had led large numbers of investors to adopt similar positions in the sector. Such risk concentration was always likely to cause problems if the…
Bailout time for SIVs
Investors are watching eagerly as banks unveil plans to restructure their ailing SIVs. Hardeep Dhillon looks at the various schemes and how they affect the proposed M-LEC 'super-SIV'
Hedge funds: The bargain hunters
There are rich pickings to be had amongst the ruins of the summer's ravaged credit markets: hedge funds that survived the crisis are now putting together funds to invest in the wide availability of cheap securities. Nikki Marmery meets the executives at…
Q&A - Rohan Douglas
The founder and CEO of Quantifi, the structured credit modelling and risk analysis firm, talks about the effects of the summer's volatility on the structured finance market, in particular how existing models have fared against the turmoil
All fall down - What's the next move for structured credit?
Banks are still counting the cost of the summer's credit crisis yet thoughts are already turning to what shape the structured credit market may take after the recent catastrophe. Are we looking at a new market paradigm or will things be the same as…
Chinese bank picks credit limits provider
Chinese bank monitors exposures as it prepares to build out in derivatives
The CDO manager hit parade
With nearly 300 CDO managers plying their trade in today's global markets, investors are hard-pressed to decide who's top of the pops and who's a one-hit wonder. Rachel Wolcott speaks to influential investors to find out which managers they really rate