Derivs - Credit

Markit made a last-minute alteration to its iTraxx Japan index rules late Friday, allowing it to replace troubled consumer finance company Aiful with Tokio Marine Nichido Fire Insurance Co. on the eve of the index roll into series 12.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s EMEA Determinations Committee has agreed on the list of debt obligations that will be deliverable into the credit default swaps settlement auction for Thomson.

The joint clearing venture between CME Group and Citadel Investment Group has been restructured to focus solely on clearing, shelving the Citadel-led electronic execution platform for credit default swaps trading, CMDX.

Standard & Poor’s has updated its global cash and synthetic corporate CDO criteria following the request for comment that it issued in March.

Panelists at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association annual regional meeting in New York, continued to broadcast the benefits of credit default swaps, recognizing that much of their argument has so far fallen on deaf ears.

Credit default swaps on Irish financial names pulled in dramatically this morning following an announcement by the government that it plans to spend EUR77 billion (USD113 billion) to shift banks’ toxic assets to a new state-run ‘bad bank.’

A group of executives from Argent Funds has formed Raven Rock Capital, a corporate credit relative value shop.

Australia and New Zealand will begin trading credit default swaps with a fixed coupon next Monday, in conjunction with the roll to the Markit iTraxx Australia series 12.

The European Commission is soliciting alternatives to proposed capital charges for customized trades and has reached out to various industry bodies and dealers for their thoughts.

The New York bankruptcy court judge handling the workout of the Lehman Brothers Holdings estate ruled yesterday that Metavante Corp., a counterparty that owes Lehman roughly USD7 million plus interest on a swap, has to pay up. That’s despite language in the International Swaps and Derivatives Association contract that suggested otherwise.

Banco Santander is set to trade credit default swaps in Europe from its London office by the beginning of next year. Presently, the firm trades covered bonds and asset backed securities from its Madrid office.

A white paper addressing margin-related risks will be released today by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the Managed Funds Association and the Securities Industry Financial Regulatory Authority.