Trying to grow

Optimists say they are beginning to see the first signs of life in the Nordic region’s credit derivatives market, while pessimists claim it will be a long while before banks and asset managers are comfortable with these tools.

While the rest of Europe is in the midst of a credit risk management revolution fuelled by increasingly innovative credit derivatives structures and investment products, the Nordic region’s banks and asset managers are sitting on the sidelines. Throughout the region, regulators tend to be generally conservative, but end-users are also relatively cautious about dabbling in these products.

Credit risk managers at financial institutions, in particular, are hesitant to use credit derivatives to