People
An unfair competition
As one of the largest importers of natural gas in the European Union, Italy is a clear example of why liberalisation is harder in net importing countries. Alberto Cavaliere, professor of public economics at the University of Pavia, looks at the state of…
Subprime hope
As the fallout from the troubled US subprime mortgage market continues to spread, Laurence Neville looks at what the future holds and examines some important factors that must be addressed to ensure its survival
The whole package
Whole loan trading in the UK is blossoming and healthy volumes are expected this year as a host of new entrants increase liquidity in the market. Though US subprime troubles have dented trading volumes, many expect the market to continue to grow. Hardeep…
Running dry
The UK has seen an old-style bank run like those of the nineteenth century. German lenders have struggled to prop up failing conduits. Contagion from the US has reached Europe but not in the way anyone expected. Subprime lenders, in particular, have been…
Exit routes clear
Rob Collins has joined Morgan Stanley's securitisation team from his previous role as chief financial officer for the investment bank's UK mortgage lender - Advantage. His new role will help the firm feed capital markets intelligence into its product…
An elegant charter
Patricia Cook has taken on the role of chief business officer at Freddie Mac as the mortgage agency faces its biggest challenge for the past 15 years, and perhaps its biggest opportunity. Here she talks exclusively about Freddie's strategy in the current…
Opportunity knocks
Property derivatives are already used in the commercial mortgage market, and growth is forecast in this area. However, there's untapped potential in the huge residential mortgage market - so what will it take for lenders to see the benefits of hedging…
Mission critical
Few are the lucky ones in the current market turmoil. But good fortune and good foresight mean Freddie Mac is less vulnerable than private-label peers. The subprime mess might even present a valuable opportunity for the US mortgage agency. By Rob Mannix
Hedging for the duration
As spreads to be earned on other fixed income products have declined, mortgages have become more attractive but investors should know what risks are hedged and why. Mark Raaberg considers the main risk dynamics of hedging mortgages and why duration is a…
A time of strife
Interest rate markets traded as if every day was a big news day during August. Mark Walker of RBS Global Banking & Markets looks back at swap movements and volatility spikes and asks what those meant for mortgage lenders
The true cost of no-cost mortgages
Banks offering no-cost mortgages have been accused of hiding the real cost of the loan from borrowers. But as Andrew Kalotay and Jinghua Qian explain, lenders can also run into problems if they fail to calculate correctly the prepayment behaviour of…
Stephen Andress
The head of derivatives ops at Northern Trust talks to Matthew Attwood about how credit derivatives are evolving and what effect the summer's turmoil may have on the industry
Protected from the subprime chaos
The Latin American region has suffered its fair share of financial difficulties - most of them self-inflicted - but a period of economic stability and rebuilding has left many LatAm countries well equipped to withstand the fallout from the recent…
ABN Amro rejects criticism of CPDOs after index roll fails to dent structures
Fears that the September 20 roll of the CDX and iTraxx indices would put CPDO structures under pressure have so far proved unfounded, with the indices tightening less than expected
First Pacific Advisors - The waiting game pays off
Betting against the markets takes a steady nerve, but for Robert Rodriguez and Thomas Atteberry, investment managers at West Coast house First Pacific Advisors, the strategy has paid off - and how. Dalia Fahmy talks to the two men who run this year's…
Tim Fletcher
Insufficient data is at the root of the credit market's ruined summer, Baseline Capital's sales and marketing director tells Matthew Attwood
It's a cruel, cruel summer
This period of monetary tightening has ended with a pop - just like all the recent ones
The psychology of it all
The events of the summer have ravaged investor confidence in high yield and leveraged loans. Tim Hall at Calyon looks at the effect of the credit meltdown on three constituencies of the market: investors, issuers and underwriters
Putting a price on subprime assets
Structured credit investors nursing losses from subprime-infected assets want better valuation models for illiquid securities such as MBS. But as Stewart Eisenhart reports, such solutions will be tricky to design and costly to implement