GFI: financials, banks and telecoms are most active CDSs

Credit default swaps (CDS) referenced to financial services firms, banks and telecom companies were among the most active in April trading, according to a monthly list produced by GFI, a New York-based interdealer broker.

In the US, CDSs referenced to firms operating in the financial services sector were the most active, led by Virginia-based student loan provider SLM Corp, California-based Countrywide Home Loans and New York-based CIT Group. Carmakers and banks also topped the most-active list, led by Detroit-based carmaker Ford and Washington Mutual.

In Europe, telecoms dominated CDS trading for the seventh month in a row, led by Telecom Italia and Dutch firm KPN. The food retailing and wholesaling sector remained on GFI’s most-active list for the third month in a row, led by UK grocer Sainsbury's, while the automobile parts sector was also on the list.

In Asia, financial services firms topped CDS trading for the 12th month in a row, led by Japanese lender Acom. Banks were heavily traded, led by Kazakh banks Kazkommertsbank and Bank TuranAlem. The computing sector also re-entered the most-active list.

The month’s most active sovereign CDSs included contracts referenced to the governments of Turkey, Ukraine, Argentina, Brazil and Russia.