BNP Paribas
Sony hit by poor earnings reports and downgrade threat
Credit default swap spreads on Japan’s largest consumer and electronics group, Sony, widened further this week, following weaker than expected earnings results and the potential threat of a downgrade by Moody’s Investor Services, say traders.
Trac-x gains market maker support
BNP Paribas has signed up to make markets in the Trac-x Europe credit default swaps index initiative established by JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. Other major dealers are also looking into offering market making services in Trac-x products, with…
Japanese credit spreads tighten to near-record levels
Japanese credit default swap spreads continued to tighten on technical factors, nearly reaching record levels, with trading volumes on the whole fairly subdued, according to traders.
Japan credit spreads tighten as Iraqi conflict draws to a close
Credit protection on Japanese names continued a tightening trend this week, on the back of positive sentiment globally with the war in Iraq nearing a close and the absence of negative news in the domestic market.
Debate and controversy mark Op Risk 2003 events
Delegates at the fifth annual Operational Risk and Risk magazine operational risk conferences in London and New York this March were treated to what one speaker described as a "smorgasboard" of discussions on the subject. Attendees could choose from…
BNP Paribas hires Hong Kong-based securitisation specialist from Fitch
BNP Paribas has hired Sunny Park as a Hong Kong-based associate director and structured credit research analyst. She is due to start work at the French bank this week, and was previously an analyst in the structured finance division of credit rating…
EIB to outsource derivatives collateral management
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing institution of the European Union, is set to outsource its derivatives collateral management activities to Dutch bank ABN Amro.
Pension deficit concern sparks demand for default protection
Traders saw a marked increase in volumes for credit protection, following a credit watch alert by rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on 12 major European corporations earlier today. S&P today warned that the companies, including Sainsbury’s, Rolls…
BNP Paribas to launch multi-dealer Japanese credit index
French Bank BNP Paribas is preparing to launch a new credit index in Japan that tracks the 50 most liquid Japanese names in the country’s credit default swap market.
BNP Paribas to launch managed synthetic CDO in Japan
French bank BNP Paribas is on the verge of closing a ¥140 billion ($1.19 billion) managed synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) with Japanese asset management firm Daiichi Life-IBJ Asset Management (DIAM). Expected to close in mid-February, the…
BNP to launch European power trading desk
BNP Paribas today said it plans to start a European powertrading desk as part of its energy and commodity business.
BNP to offer derivatives based on S&P Hedge Fund Index
BNP Paribas has been granted a licence by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to deliver derivatives products linked to the S&P Hedge Fund Index. BNP is the first bank to be given permission to develop derivatives based on the index.
iBoxx licenses indexes for exchange-traded funds
Frankfurt-based indexing company iBoxx and Pennsylvania-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) company iShares have struck a deal to license iBoxx indexes as the basis for European fixed-income ETFs to be launched on Deutsche Börse. The new products are…
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…
Natexis hit by heavy equity derivatives losses
French bank Natexis Banques Populaires has made significant losses from its equity derivatives trading business due to poor risk control and failures in the bank’s valuation models.
Kosda to launch benchmark CMS index
The Korean Swaps Dealers Association (Kosda) plans to launch a benchmark constant maturity swap (CMS) fixing index in December, according to Seung Won Hwang, head of derivatives marketing at Citibank and co-chairman of Kosda.
BNP Paribas looks for new interest rate derivatives trading head
BNP Paribas is looking for a head of interest rate derivatives trading for Asia-Pacific, following the departure of Monty Agarwal in mid-October.
Unsystematic credit risk
Although Basel has shifted its treatment of unsystematic credit risk from the first, capital rules pillar (where it was called the ‘granularity adjustment’) to the second, supervisory pillar of the forthcoming Accord, this issue is of great practical…
Deutsche Bank credit protection trades wider following Q3 losses
The cost of senior debt protection for Deutsche Bank has crept 5 basis points wider to 58bp-mid after the bank posted a third-quarter net loss of €299 million. In otherwise thin markets, credit derivatives traders in London said active buyers of…
Vivendi spreads widen due to Cegetel bid fears
Credit protection spreads on Vivendi Universal debt widened by 60 basis points yesterday as speculation again mounted that the French telecoms company would attempt to boost its stake in French mobile telephone company Cegetel. Five-year credit default…
BNP Paribas closes eighth Japan synthetic CDO via Serena Finance
French bank BNP Paribas has closed an arbitrage synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) referenced to a portfolio of credit default swaps worth a total notional amount of ¥144 billion ($1.16 billion), according to Stéphane Delacote, the bank’s…
Deutsche Bank reveals role in 9/11 liquidity facility
Michael Reuther, global head of funding at Deutsche Bank, has revealed today how the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York created an emergency €50 billion ‘synthetic’ liquidity facility in the wake of last year’s World Trade…
Equities rally brings in cost of US and European debt protection
A strong rebound in world equity markets during the early part of this week has caused the cost of credit protection on US and European institutions to markedly narrow. The contraction in credit spreads this week nearly matched the widening seen last…
Credit spreads for European financial debt protection widen
The cost of credit protection for European banks has widened significantly this week as negative fundamentals dominated market sentiment. Five-year credit default swaps for major European banks widened between 1 to 10 basis points for senior protection…