Lehman Brothers
Finra scrutinises muni-bond market; US Treasury creates Consumer Financial Protection Agency
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has launched an investigation into financial institutions' underwriting derivatives contracts used by US municipals to finance debt at lower costs.
Victory at last
The seismic movements in the financial markets last year confounded even the experts, as correlation took down every asset class and unwitting trader going. Victor Sperandeo, better known as Trader Vic, talks exclusively on the back of his latest index…
Delighted with deposits
Newcastle Building Society has been gradually building up its structured deposit business, including the launch of a new intermediary services arm in 2008. With the FTSE 100 index climbing and deposits backed by the government, the society is right to be…
Wrap it up and start again
Marketing structured products is a tough challenge, with both nascent and established markets battered by the Lehman Brothers collapse. Meanwhile, providers must also adapt their techniques to suit interactive and online channels, and be increasingly…
Preaching protection
Continuing a series of interviews with national regulators about structured products, we talk to Maria Jose Gomez Yubero, head of investor protection at the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores, about the fallout from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy,…
Japan's Nomura posts record $7.3 billion loss
Losses and Lawsuits
Stress-test success masks bigger problem with banks
The US government's bank stress tests appear to have been successful in stabilising financial markets, but some market observers believe they are obscuring broader systemic problems and could hamper efforts to deal with toxic assets.
UK Treasury releases investment bank insolvency report
Daily news headlines
SG CIB tries to fix variance swap flaws
In the wake of hefty losses for sellers of variance swaps as volatility spiked last year, Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking (SG CIB) is touting products that might make selling variance more palatable for investors.
Contract counterattack
Efforts to recover the value of nearly 200,000 derivatives transactions conducted with Lehman Brothers have been frustrated by a provision of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement. But the bankrupt estate is fighting back
Investors sue HSBC, BNY Mellon and Lehman over 'Minibonds'
Losses and Lawsuits
Banks suffer from stricter ratings criteria
Banks may be the latest victims of a continuing drive by rating agencies to impose harsher tests on highly-rated structured finance products, analysts said.
Lyxor limits counterparty risk of ETN
Société Générale's Lyxor Asset Management unit is marketing a new exchange-traded note (ETN) that follows the price of gold, which it says will significantly reduce the problem of counterparty risk.
Bernanke calls for regulatory overhaul of financial system
An overhaul of how the government regulates the financial system is required to prevent future economic crises, said US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech delivered before the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington today.
Lehman likely to recoup value of derivatives trades
Counterparties to derivatives trades with Lehman Brothers that are currently in-the-money for the bankrupt estate will not be able to hold off payment indefinitely, predict lawyers.
Risk committees under scrutiny after Lehman collapse
How should banks be rethinking the composition and role of their risk committees in the wake of Lehman?
Contract counterattack
Efforts to recover the value of nearly 200,000 derivatives transactions conducted with Lehman Brothers have been frustrated by a provision of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement. But the bankrupt estate is fighting back…
Give us credit
Credit is widely seen as the biggest challenge facing energy risk managers in 2009, with many believing a radical overhaul of existing risk practices is due. Pauline McCallion investigates
Editor's letter
Editorial
Funding fears
Editor's letter
Nomura downgraded after $3.8 billion Q3 loss
Nomura Holdings, Japan's leading brokerage, has announced a third quarter loss of ¥342.9 billion ($3.8 billion). The financial services company said the losses were driven by a series of "one-off" losses from exposure to Madoff funds, Icelandic banks,…
Barclays Capital expands executive committee
Barclays Capital has added eight managing directors to its executive committee, after completing the integration of Lehman Brothers' US investment banking and capital market businesses.
Cash-settlement auctions working, says Isda
The auction process for cash-settling credit derivatives trades has been tested recently but is working well, said Bob Pickel, chief executive of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, at a symposium held by the organisation in New York on…