Credit markets
Japan credit default swap spreads tighten despite falling stock market
Credit default swap spreads in Japan continued to tighten this week, despite the equity market benchmark Nikkei index closing down every day since Monday, ending at 8,516.07, 347.19 points or 4% down on the week.
S&P slams Isda’s proposed changes to default swaps definition
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says it strongly objects to a proposed change in credit derivatives documentation language currently being considered by an International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) working group.
Fitch to investigate credit derivatives risk concentrations
Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings is concerned that the rapid growth and lack of transparency in the synthetic credit markets could be leading to alarming concentrations of risk with specific market participants.
MBIA and S&P join war of words with Gotham over reinsurer’s AAA rating
Jay Brown, chairman of US monoline reinsurance company MBIA, entered into a row with Gotham Partners Management yesterday over comments made in a report issued by the US hedge fund. Brown called the report, which suggested MBIA should lose its coveted …
HVB downgrade forces spreads wider
The cost of five-year senior protection for HypoVereinsbank (HVB) widened by more than 10 basis points to 95/115bp yesterday after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the German bank. The downgrade, along with another negative report on bank risk…
ST Asset Management mulls CDOs and plans to boost headcount
ST Asset Management (STAM) is planning to increase its staff – which is currently 19-strong – by one third throughout next year, in a push to become a key participant in Asia’s structured finance market, according to Chong Jiun Yeh, a senior vice…
Credit protection for European telecoms continues to tighten
The cost of credit protection for European telecoms continued to tighten this week, led by France Telecom and boosted by an S&P upgrade for the Netherlands' KPN yesterday. Elsewhere in Europe, spreads remained tight with little movement, including those…
Weak yen helps cheapen protection on Japanese exporters
A weaker Japanese yen earlier this week lifted market sentiment on the financial prospects of Japanese export companies, which caused their credit protection costs to narrow up to 20 basis points.
JP Morgan Chase prepares largest Asian managed synthetic CDO
JP Morgan Chase is preparing to launch what will be the largest synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) to date to be managed by an Asian fund manager. The $1.7 billion deal will be managed by Singapore's UOB Asset Management, say Asian investors…
ABN Amro to close A$1.1 billion Gibraltar synthetic CDO today
Dutch banking group ABN Amro expects to close its Gibraltar synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) referenced on a portfolio of global credit default swaps worth a notional amount of A$1.1 billion today, Paul Cordeiro, ABN Amro's Sydney-based…
Negative rating actions prompt little movement in credit spreads
The European credit derivatives market remained listless this week, with limited movement in protection cost spreads following a string of negative credit news, traders said. The cost of credit protection for German banks, UK bank Barclays and Spain’s…
JP Morgan Chase pushes use of credit derivatives to enhance returns
JP Morgan Chase plans to give a number of presentations to asset managers to encourage them to use credit derivatives to enhance returns.
Securing the market
Securitisation
Tesco
News
Protected: yes Effective: maybe
Covered bonds
Tied up in red tape
Spain focus
The race for a suitable index
Forex benchmarking
Emerging opportunities
CDO investing
Setting out a strategy
Case study – Kepco
CDOs with equity puts emerge in Asia
New Angles
On top of the market
Interbank derivatives survey 2002
Lehman issues Asian CDO
New angles
Paying off the debt
New angles