Interest rate markets

Slow ahead for euro rates business

Investors have grown increasingly worried about exposures to eurozone sovereigns given the problems faced by Greece and others. Christophe Mianné, head of global markets at SG CIB, warns the second quarter will prove to be tough for the European rates…

Reconsidering the fixed-floating mix

Yield curves for sterling, the euro and the dollar are the steepest they have been for well over a decade, leaving companies with outstanding fixed-rate debt and large amounts of cash on balance sheets facing significant negative carry. Many corporates…

Against the grain

Pension fund performance in 2008 was appalling, with funding levels plunging across the globe – but some schemes sidestepped a funding crisis by focusing on effective risk management.

A reversal of power

Investor demand for power reverse dual currency structures has fallen off a cliff as these once high coupon-paying instruments have morphed into zero coupon bonds with lock-in periods of up to 30 years. Issuers have also incurred significant costs. Is…

Riding out the rise

Stakeholders in the Asian recovery have a nervous eye on the region’s central banks for signs as to when interest rates will rise this year – something that could weigh on equity returns and devalue the portfolios of bondholders. Changes in rates…

Scaling the peaks on 3s/6s basis

Some banks are drawing attention to a widening in the basis between three-month and six-month Euribor, as financial institutions are forced to use longer-term funding to eliminate mismatches on their balance sheets. How are banks responding? By Duncan…

Information of interest

The flow of information in financial markets on future liquidity risk generates the rise and fall of demand for default-free bonds. Here, Dorje Brody and Robyn Friedman present an approach to pricing these bonds and the associated derivatives, based on…

Carry trade bonanza

Asian governments and quasi-government entities have issued record volumes of debt this year. This, combined with strong currency moves, is fuelling swaps activity in the markets. Can it last? William Rhode reports

Battle formations

Major Chinese entities and international banks are steeling themselves for a protracted battle on multiple fronts related to the use of over-the-counter derivatives. The confrontation is killing business and preventing some Chinese entities from hedging…

Fixed returns?

Banks have reported huge profits this year in fixed income, with swaps desks benefiting from flows off the back of sovereign and corporate debt issuance. Exotic desks, in contrast, have seen a substantial decline in investor interest. Peter Madigan…

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