Fitch Ratings plans to survey an additional 50 sellers of credit protection to fully asses the risks of the credit derivatives market. In March, Fitch published its first account of the risks in the credit derivatives arena. Ian Linnell, managing director in the credit policy group in London, said the first survey missed out some major names, such as Swiss Re and Abbey National, and the rating agency is going back to make it more comprehensive. The survey should be published next months.
Fitch's original survey concluded that banks are net beneficiaries of the risk transfer product, but that the impact was less apparent for risk takers.
Linnell said the research is part of the rating agencies efforts to make the credit derivatives market more transparent. As part of this aim, it is also looking at other projects, such as a database or index of liquid credit-default swaps.
