CIBC World Markets is planning to start offering synthetic collateralized debt obligations in Japan next year. Yasuhiko Kai, fixed income trader at CIBC in Tokyo, said the plans are in response to a growing number of domestic banks looking to remove credit risk from their balance sheets, in addition to more investors wanting higher returns than traditional fixed income instruments offer.
The size of the transactions would likely be at least USD100 million. Structurers in Tokyo would work with their counterparts in Toronto and New York to issue the products, noted Kai. He declined to comment further.
