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Industry Risk - Agencies Issue Proposed Rules on Risk-Based Pricing Notices
The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade Commission yesterday announced proposed regulations that generally would require a creditor to provide a consumer with a risk-based pricing notice when, based in whole or in part on the consumer's credit report, the creditor offers or provides credit to the consumer on terms less favorable than the terms it offers or provides to other consumers.
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Headline News, Saturday, May 10, 2008
May 9: Market Risk - Increased Interest in Insurance-Linked Securitization
Fitch Ratings said yesterday that although Insurance Linked Securitisation (ILS) is by no means new, this asset class is receiving increased attention from issuers. Potential insurance issuers and structurers have shown renewed interest in transferring insurance risks to the market.
May 9: Industry Risk - SEC Charges Marvell Technology Group For Stock Option Backdating
The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged a Silicon Valley semiconductor company and its co-founder for reporting false financial information to investors by improperly backdating stock option grants to employees.
May 9: Speech - Paulson Remarks on the Economic Stimulus
The following is a speech by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., on the current state of the US economy.
May 9: Market Risk - US Mortgage Rates Experience Little Movement
Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.05 percent with an average 0.3 point for the week ending May 8 down very slightly from last week when it averaged 6.06 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.21 percent.
May 8: Industry Risk - Despite the Credit Crunch, Opportunities in Developed Markets Are Waiting
With the collapse of credit markets, firms are increasingly willing to tread into unknown territory to find new opportunities abroad. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report on private equity investment (citing Thomson Financial data) noted that international buyers accounted for 23% of all U.S. mergers and acquisitions in the first 11 months of 2007. These cross-border deals totaled $354 billion, up 73% from the 2006 full-year total.
May 8: Market Risk - Led by Hedge Funds, Alternative Investment Firms Represent 40 Percent of YTD M&A Activity in 2008
Sales of alternative investment firms account for a record 40 percent of deals in the global investment management business thus far in 2008, according to Jefferies Putnam Lovell, a leading adviser on alternative investment transactions and the division of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) focused on the asset management and financial technology industries.
May 8: Market Risk - ECB Lending Still Providing Liquidity , Not Structural Funding
Fitch Ratings says in a report published earlier this week that European Central Bank (ECB) lending is continuing to facilitate liquidity in financial markets as intended, rather than providing structural funding for European banks' core businesses. The agency's findings run counter to some media reports and views that European banks are increasingly using ECB lending facilities to meet core funding needs.
May 8: Credit Risk - US CREL CDO Delinquencies Tick Down Amid Continued Extensions
A lack of repurchased loans during the month contributed to a slightly lower U.S. commercial real estate loan (CREL) CDO delinquency rate for April 2008 of 0.69%, down from last month's rate of 0.74%, according to the latest CREL CDO Delinquency Index from Fitch Ratings. The delinquency index includes loans that are 60 days or longer delinquent, matured balloon loans, and repurchased assets.
May 8: Industry Risk - SEC Stops Multi-Million Dollar Fictitious Currency Trading Program
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained a court order to stop a $27 million Ponzi scheme involving investors in the United States, Canada, and other countries.
May 8: Credit Risk - Federal Agencies to Propose Rules on Late Card Payments
The Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration have both said they plan to publish a proposed rule on their Web sites regarding Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices for credit cards and overdraft services last week.
May 8: Market Risk – Hector Sants Speaks at the Building Societies Association Annual Conference
Financial Services Authority (FSA) Chief Executive Hector Sants acknowledged the important role of mutual building societies in the financial system in a speech to the Building Societies Association Annual Conference in Manchester earlier yesterday.
May 8: Energy Risk – Greening the Transport Sector
Green cars come in many varieties. Natural gas is one of them, considered to be a much cleaner and cheaper alternative than conventional oil. In fact, Honda's Civic GX, a natural gas car that cost about $25,000 and is sold only in New York and California, is the "greenest" of them all.
May 7: Commentary - A Spectre Returns
What tough luck. First the subprime crisis, then the talk of recession in the U.S. And to cap it all comes yet another piece of bad news: the return of stagflation. It is a term that has been gathering dust for so long that we need to remind ourselves what it actually means. Stagflation is the simultaneous occurrence of stagnation and inflation.
May 7: Market Risk - Auction-Rate Securities, Bidder’s Remorse?
The paper explores the evolution of auction-rate securities in depth, from their creation in the mid-1980s through continued market developments in the 1990s and 2000s, up through the present crisis, when the market “virtually collapsed” in February 2008, according to the Wall Street Journal.
May 7: Economic Risk - Economic Growth to Continue Throughout 2008
Economic growth in the United States is sustainable throughout the remainder of 2008, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in their spring 2008 Semiannual Economic Forecast. Expectations for the remainder of 2008 are encouraging in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.
May 7: Energy Risk - Smart Approach to Smart Metering
Trying to predict the future is tricky. So many decisions are made by so many people—summed together, these decisions collectively determine our future. Planning is just as difficult because we have to weigh many factors and try to pick the ones that will have the largest influence on how our particular industry will unfold. A columnist in the LA Times, David Lazarus, took a shot late last month at predicting the future of smart metering in California.
May 7: Speech – Lowery on the Asian Development Fund
The following is a statement by Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Clay Lowery before the 41st Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank.
May 6: Credit Risk – Fitch Releases Global Corporate Finance 2007 Transition and Default Study
Fitch Ratings has released its annual global corporate finance transition and default study. This study provides data and analysis on the performance of Fitch's global corporate ratings, both over the most recent year, 2007, and over the long term, covering the period 1990-2007.
May 6: Market Risk - Monthly Economic and Fed Policy Report
View summary of key economic indicators. See detail behind Real Growth Index (RGI) and 'E/M' Index (used in daily Fed Funds Report). RGI, designed to proxy bond market perceptions, updates monthly (vs. quarterly GDP), identifies recessions precisely, and correlates with other indices (e.g., ISM). Multivariate model projects RGI 3 months out. 'E/M' section reveals conditions empirically consistent with FOMC rate moves. Charts show 'E/M' history against Fed moves; RGI, money, and prices since 1960; and RGI Index relative to model forecast.
May 6: Operational Risk - FpML/ISDA, FPL, ISITC and SWIFT Develop Messaging Investment Roadmap
The world’s leading financial market messaging standards organizations yesterday announced that they have collaborated to create a financial messaging Investment Roadmap. They laid the groundwork to establish one common financial messaging standard, ISO 20022, while maintaining the existing independent protocols.
May 6: Energy Risk - Energy Efficiency and Traditional Generation
The nation's energy options will require new energy efficiency tools along with a host of fuels that are all supported by a substantial investment in generation and transmission. That's the view from an industry-sponsored report.
May 6: Operational Risk - BIS Establishes Consultative Council for the Americas
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has established a Consultative Council for the Americas (CCA), comprising the Governors of the BIS member central banks in the Americas region. The purpose of the CCA is to provide a vehicle for communication between the members of the BIS in the Americas and the Bank’s Board and Management on matters of interest and concern to the central bank community in the region.
May 6: Economic Risk - Americans Divided Over Whether Rebate Checks Will Stimulate the Economy
Rebate checks began hitting bank accounts last week and will be arriving in mailboxes with the hope that they will stimulate the economy. Americans, however, are split on whether they actually will do so.
May 5: Job at Risk - Risk Professionals in Capital Markets Maintain Strong Compensation Growth Despite Market Issues
Risk professionals in the capital markets saw their average total compensation increase by 7% in 2007 over 2006, with an 8% compound average growth rate (CAGR) since 2003. Increased bonuses continue to be the main driver, with 11% growth in cash bonus and 6% growth in non-cash bonus for 2007 over 2006. The highest growth rates in total compensation are for new risk managers (professionals with less than 6 years of experience) and less senior titles (Analyst, Associate, Senior Associate and Manager).
May 5: Credit Risk – CDS, Banking Active World-Wide
Credit default swaps for the banking and financial services sectors saw the most trading in the US during April, with all top five slots taken by financial institutions.
May 5: Operational Risk - ISDA Launches European LCDS Protocol
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. last Friday announced the launch of the 2008 European Loan CDS (LCDS) Update Protocol.
May 5: Energy Risk - Brazil's Potential
Brazilians are dancing in the streets. But will the hoopla last? The celebration comes amidst observations by key energy officials there that surveyors have discovered an area off-shore that may hold 33 billion barrels of oil. That would make it the largest such find in 30 years and the third biggest ever.
May 5: Market Risk - US Fed, ECB, and SNB Announce an Expansion of Liquidity Measures
Central banks have continued to work together and to consult regularly on liquidity conditions in financial markets. In view of the persistent liquidity pressures in some term funding markets, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing an expansion of their liquidity measures.
May 5: Industry Risk – US Fed Proposes Rules to Prohibit Unfair Practices Regarding Credit Cards and Overdraft Services
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday proposed rules to prohibit unfair practices regarding credit cards and overdraft services that would, among other provisions, protect consumers from unexpected increases in the rate charged on pre-existing credit card balances.
May 5: Market Risk - Chart of the Day
Last Friday, crude oil closed at over $112 per barrel. As would be expected, this has translated into high prices at the pump. How high?
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Escalating Risk Visibility - The Professional Risk Management View of the Role of the CRO 
Counterparty Risk in Structured Finance Transactions: Swap Criteria 
Risk Manager’s Toolkit - Sure-Fire Spreadsheet Tips and Tricks for the Practicing Risk Manager Enterprise Risk - Fighting Risk Measurement Myopia, Creating a Risk Inventory and Gap Analysis, and Dealing with Obstacles to Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Risk Reporting - Creating Incentives for Proper Data and Risk Reporting and Disclosure 
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Basel II: The 'Bottom-line' Impact on Securitization Markets Fitch Ratings 1991-2004 Structured Finance Transition Study Credit Default Swap Options: What They Are, Who Is Using Them, and Why Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404: Fitch's Approach to Evaluating Management and Auditor Assessments of Internal Controls High Yield Credit Default Swaps - Restructuring as a Credit Event Hedge Accounting and Derivatives Study for Corporates Counterparty Risk in Structured Finance Transactions: Swap Criteria IFRS and International Accounting Convergence: Revolution or Evolution? Accounting for Stock Options, Should Bondholders Care? |
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The Great Depression As A Credit Boom Gone Wrong Currency Crises And The Informational Role Of Interest Rates Principles For The Management And Supervision Of Interest Rate Risk Markets for Bank Subordinated Debt and Equity in Basel Committee Member Countries The Role of Central Bank Money In Payment Systems Risk Management Principles For Electronic Banking Overview of The New Basel Capital Accord |
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Risk Professional Compensation Survey Business Resilience - Ensuring Continuity in a Volatile Environment The CDM Paradigm Corporate Defence Management (CDM) Continuum 2006 Professional Compensation Survey, Risk Consulting 2006 Professional Compensation Survey, Corporate Risk An Executive Guide to Corporate Defense Management (CDM) Catastrophe Risk Management, Preparing for Potential Storms Ahead Japan, Discussions on Advancing Credit Risk Management through Internal Rating Systems Superstars or Average Joes? A Replication-Based Performance Evaluation of 1917 Individual Hedge Funds Regulatory Risk - Trends and Strategies for the CRO Risk Management Compensation Survey Operational Risk - Bank Capital, Agency Costs, and Monetary Policy What Does the Risk-Appetite Index Measure? Commentary – The New Player In The Risk SpaceGuide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Internal Control Reporting Requirements |
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