Swaps
Smiling at convexity
The price of a constant maturity swap (CMS)-based derivative is largely determined by the value of swaption volatilities at extreme strikes. Fabio Mercurio and Andrea Pallavicini propose a simple procedure for stripping consistently implied volatilities…
Swapstream offers electronic butterfly spreads
Swapstream, the London-based electronic trading platform for interest rate swaps established in 2003, has launched the trading of implied butterfly spreads on its platform.
Barclays adds cross-currency swaps to Barx
Barclays Capital has added cross-currency basis swaps to its Barx service provided via the Bloomberg electronic trading platform.
Belize loses $3m on cross-currency swap with Citigroup
The government of Belize has revealed that a dollar/yen interest rate swap left it on the wrong side of changes in the strength US dollar - and more than $3 million out of pocket.
Replication of flexi-swaps
Ingmar Evers and Farshid Jamshidian describe a relatively new product known as a flexi-swap and discuss its application in securitisation. A flexi-swap gives a counterparty an option to amortise the interest rate swap at an accelerated pace. They show…
JP Morgan backs TradeWeb launch of multi-dealer swaps platform
Thomson TradeWeb will launch a multi-dealer interest rate swaps trading platform in Europe at the beginning of 2005, and has received the support of JP Morgan Chase - the bank that dominated Risk ’s inter-dealer swaps rankings in September
Rio quits Commerzbank to head Swapstream
Swapstream, a medium- and long-term interest rate swaps trading platform, has appointed Stéphane Rio as chief executive. Rio was previously head of rates trading at Commerzbank for five years, and replaces Marcus Grubb, who left Swapstream in early July…
Swapstream market-makers raise quote size to €800m
The four banks making markets on electronic interest rate swaps trading platform Swapstream have raised their quote sizes from around €100 million to €200 million apiece.
Swap vega in BGM: pitfalls and alternatives
Raoul Pietersz and Antoon PelsserPractitioners who are developing the Libor BGM model for risk management of a swap-based interest rate derivative be warned: for certain volatility functions the estimate of swap vega may be poor. This may occur for time…
Risk manager of the year - Richard Evans, Deutsche Bank
The head of group market risk's stress-testing approach has helped transform Deutsche Bank.
Post-delivery problems
Credit Risk
Swapstream and SwapsWire join forces for interest rate swaps processing
Swapstream, a trading platform for swaps and over-the-counter derivatives, has reached an agreement to interface with SwapsWire, the industry-backed integrated electronic processing network for derivatives. Deals executed on Swapstream by banks and…
Tullett expands SwapMarker coverage
Tullett Financial, a subsidiary of inter-dealer broker Tullett, which provides data on derivatives products, has brought together its North American and European SwapMarker services to offer a single global service for real-time interest rate derivatives…
Deutsche Börse and Swapstream to co-host trading platform
Deutsche Börse and London-based independent service provicer Swapstream have teamed up to offer a 'neutral' trading platform for swaps and other over-the-counter derivatives.