Central banks
BarCap works to revive life insurance securitisation
For Barclays Capital, a recent £250 million ($495 million) securitisation of part of UK insurer Aegon Scottish Equitable’s life portfolio proves there’s life left in the life insurance securitisation market.
Merrill raises yet more capital after Q2 losses
Merrill Lynch is selling $6.7 billion of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), terminating hedges on CDOs and undertaking a $8.5 billion public stock offering to raise capital.
Crosby Report wary of more UK government intervention
In an interim report released today, Sir James Crosby, deputy chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), warned against the government becoming more deeply involved in attempting to prop up the mortgage market.
Markit and DTCC plan to merge OTC services
London-based data provider Markit and New York-based Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have announced their intention to form a new company to serve the over-the-counter derivatives markets.
Keydata offers income or growth
Keydata Investment Services has launched the Extra Income Plan, which offers either an income or growth. The income option pays a quarterly coupon of 2.075% pa while the growth option returns 58.5% at maturity.
Banks and hedge funds spur growth in OIS
Central bank activity has contributed towards a surge in trading overnight index swaps (OIS) over the past year, according to dealers.
PowerShares launches Frontier Countries ETF on Nasdaq
Invesco PowerShares has launched its frontier countries ETF, designed to offer access to particular equity markets in the Middle East and North Africa, on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
T Boone launches wind power plan
Texas oilman T Boone Pickens has launched a plan to address the United States’ dependence on foreign oil by aiming to generate at least 20% of the nation’s energy supply through wind power.
Financial turmoil reports issued by the CGFS
Daily news headlines
Basel committee outlines reforms for rating agencies
The Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) – a group affiliated with the Bank for International Settlements that monitors developments in financial markets for the G10 countries – released on July 4 its findings on failures in structured finance…
Power in numbers
Amid the ongoing M&A wave in the exchange and interdealer broker space, six smaller independent brokers have joined forces in a bid to stay afloat in ever-deepening liquidity pools. David Watkins reports
Buckle up
Market Analysis
Talk is cheap
Rating agencies
Back in Black
New York-based asset manager BlackRock's buying up of distressed mortgage portfolios - most notably its purchase of UBS's portfolio of subprime and other non-agency securities totalling approximately $22 billion - has been making headlines. What does it…
Structural modelling of subprime mortgages
With the economy still suffering from the waves of the credit crunch, triggered by a housing price slump, Yong Kim provides a structural model of subprime mortgages based on housing market risks. Given the enormity of the subprime mortgage market failure…
Liquid gold?
Covered bonds
Cash bonds take a different track
As anyone on the financial markets rollercoaster will know, predicting the future path of your investments is next to impossible, particularly in the current economic climate. But a dislocation has appeared between the equity/CDS markets, which are…
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
Gulf states face inflation threat to single currency
Plans by the Gulf Co-operation Council to launch a single currency by 2010 are beginning to look optimistic, with the spectre of runaway inflation throwing the whole scheme into doubt