Search results for

Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia and Spain experienced the EU’s highest inflation rate in May. Latvia's inflation was 7.1%; Slovakia's, 4.8%; Estonia’s 4.6% and Spain’s 4.1%.

Deutsche Bank has tapped SG's global head of structured credit trading in London.

Merrill Lynch has hired John Uglum, managing director in interest rate exotic derivatives trading, from Morgan Stanley. Uglum started last week and reports to Nick Brophy, managing director and head of interest rate derivatives trading in the U.S. At Morgan Stanley, he was executive director in exotic interest rate derivatives trading, reporting to David Moore, head of interest rate derivatives trading in New York. He has been replaced by Raj Suryadevara, v.p. from Merrill Lynch, who started today. Uglum and Moore, who was traveling, could not be reached and Brophy declined all comment. Separately, Morgan Stanley has named replacements for Sean Notley, head of European fixed income and global co-head of interest rates and currency in London, who took a leave of absence last month after 20 years at the firm. Colin Bryce, European head of commodities in London, will continue in his current role and replace Notley as head of fixed income in Europe. Roberto Hoornweg, global head of emerging markets in London, retains this role and has also been named co-head of interest rates and currency. Hoornweg joins Phil Newcomb, co-head of interest rates and currency and head of fixed income in New York. Mark Lake, Morgan Stanley spokesman, said Notley will return to the bank in a new role, which has not yet been decided.

Korea's Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Korea once again disagree over interest rate policy. The finance ministry criticised the Bank of Korea’s decision to increase the base rate to 4.25%, saying that the hike would hurt confidence as well as domestic consumption. The ministry said the pre-emptive move to contain inflation would coll the economy excessively.

Britannia Building Society has synthetically hedged exposure to GBP130 million (USD243 million) of asset-backed securitizations in what market watchers say is a first-of-a-kind transaction in that it covers potential drawdown of reserve funds. In the deal, the U.K. thrift has bought credit-default swap protection on the reserve funds associated with the first-loss piece of seven cash RMBS securitizations it originated between 2003 and this year. The swap is triggered if the underlying notes do not meet note-holder payments.

Bear Stearns has recently started marketing in Asia a capital guaranteed structure linked to the performance of a basket of water-related companies. "The [United Nations] has issued a report highlighting the severity of water shortages. The demand for clean fresh water will double in the coming 20 years," said Edward Ho, senior managing director in Hong Kong. "This is something investors are taking notice of."

Oil boom means government could bail out banks after lending binge

A Nomura co-head of international equity derivatives has left the firm.

Local banks and ratings agency continue their war of words

Fitch warns against panic and populism

The Central Bank of Nigeria said that the country’s GDP growth moderated in the first quarter of the year. The bank attributed the lower growth rate of 2.7% to a decline in oil production. Nigeria ’s oil production has declined by an estimated 20 to 25% due to ongoing violence by militant groups in the Niger Delta.

Drawn to the attractions of subordinated and hybrid bonds, investors have flocked to the FIG market in recent years, driving in spreads. This has resulted in questionable valuations of non-step-up structures and features such as mandatory deferral triggers. Some investors now consider the market overvalued, although the recent credit market weakness is providing selective opportunities.