Russia
Energy Risk Commodity Rankings: banks and brokers battle extreme volatility
Winners of the 2022 Commodity Rankings needed new approaches to manage extreme price swings
UBS settlement risk up 238% as sanctions snag Russia trades
Held-up and failed counterparty transactions add almost $1bn to RWAs
Energy market split over emergency government support
German move to backstop margins with liquidity facility welcomed by energy producers – but others say it’s unnecessary
Russian bondholders may frustrate restructuring of debts
Distressed debt holders use restructurings to extract returns. Getting the agreement of Russian investors will be hard
JP Morgan takes $524m XVA loss on nickel, Russia trades
Margin calls, markdowns and rising funding costs result in biggest XVA loss since early 2020
The murky world of transparency disclosures
Lack of data granularity on Russian exposures should prompt a rethink by regulators and banks alike
Op risk data: Barclays bungles multi-billion-dollar note issue
Also: Russia sanctions redux; Lloyd’s of London names bullying and sexism brokerage. Data by ORX News
CDS users mull ‘uniform’ price as Russia fallback
Pricing agreement could replace dealer estimates if sanctions scupper default auctions
Offshore waves: how the ruble is becoming a painful trade
As liquidity dries up in markets affected by sanctions, trading is shifting from electronic venues
In roiling markets, fraud rises. Banks want to understand why
Disruption from Ukraine and Covid puts managers on alert for misconduct, as risk controls are stretched to the max
EU banks kept building Russian exposures as sanctions loomed
Latest EBA data shows the bloc’s lenders cut holdings of government debt securities, but increased commitments to private sector
CDSs may not cover final coupon on $149bn of Russian bonds
Some derivatives contracts expire before end of final grace period for distressed corporate bonds
Time’s up for UK banks to unwind swaps with VTB
Majority of contracts have been terminated, but laggards face prospect of default
Wrong-way add-on helped LCH mop up VTB default
Margin supplement bought precious time to formulate wind-down strategy
Funds forced to estimate value of Russian securities
Western asset managers can sell Russian shares from April 1. But they have to value them by March 31
Banks tout CCAR-style stress tests for emergent risks
Extreme-but-plausible scenario planning is being applied to geopolitical events such as Ukraine conflict
Berkshire Hathaway outruns index puts it sold pre-GFC
Options that netted Warren Buffett’s company hefty premiums would be worthless at end-2021 market levels
Russian invasion stirs up ‘perfect storm’ for XVA desks
Declining credit quality of Russian companies and spike in inflation threaten CVA and FVA double-whammy for banks
ETF issuers face dilemma with frozen Russian funds
To liquidate or not to liquidate? BlackRock, VanEck and Lyxor risk lawsuits if they wind down ETFs
Banks: sanctions evasion driving rise in money laundering risk
Attempts by oligarchs to siphon cash out of Russia sparks heightened scrutiny of AML alerts
On Russia, finance needs to find its moral compass
The looming risk of big write-offs should prompt investor rethink
Pimco, Franklin Templeton affiliates top for Russia exposure
Counterparty Radar: Funds had biggest long exposures to Russia across credit, rates, FX at end of Q4
UniCredit ties buybacks to Russian exposure fallout
The Italian lender could lose as much as 200bp of CET1 ratio from a full write-down of Russian assets
The biggest Russian ETFs are filled with cash, US assets
ETFs issued by BlackRock, DWS and VanEck have sold nearly all of their ‘uninvestable’ Russia stock