Derivs - Credit

Fitch Ratings may downgrade nearly half of all the AAA classes of corporate synthetic collateralized debt obligations it has rated, according to officials speaking on a conference call last week discussing its finalized ratings methodology.

JPMorgan’s structured credit group is under the new leadership of Philippe Roger, Yale Baron and Oldrich Masek following the departure of former head Brian Zeitlin.

Investors in the corporate collateralized debt obligation market are asking dealers to build CDO squareds that reference bespoke tranches.

A growing number of investment banks are becoming increasingly interested in spring cleaning documentation linked to past transactions.

Countrywide Financial has grabbed the attention of the single-name credit-default swaps market this week as speculation around the fate of Countrywide's USD38 billion of outstanding debt lingered and investors brought protection.

The cost of credit-default swaps on chemicals company Ciba continued to edge up this week, with the spread climbing by 15 basis points today to touch 230 bps before closing at 225 bps.

ABN AMRO and The Royal Bank of Scotland are rethinking the creation of a new structured credit and alternatives business.

With mortgages out of favor, commodities and funds could become assets to which collateralized debt obligation technology will be increasingly applied in the coming year.

Participants in the Canadian conduit market have been among the most active players in the correlation markets over the past month driving the bulk of restructuring activity.

Brian Zeitlin, the former head of global structured credit at JPMorgan in New York, has left the firm.

Sailfish Structured Investment Management’s head has left the firm.

The municipal bond index the MCDX launched today and strategists are already putting out trade ideas to take advantage of early liquidity premiums and the relative value of the index compared with the CDX.