Credit Suisse First Boston is said to be endeavouring to sell off all of the collateralized debt obligation positions held by its London trading desk, say London-based CDO bankers and traders. These officials say CSFB is widely rumored to have large positions, especially in high-yield CDOs. "They had been taking on a lot more risk internally and now some people aren't too happy," says one rival banker. "In Europe, CSFB has been focused on the high-yield business, and now the business as a whole has shifted toward synthetics," he adds. Bob Walsh, a CDO official at CSFB in London, could not be reached for comment.
CSFB is currently in the number four position on Thomson Financial's All Euromarket CDOs league table which accounts for deals up to September 30. The firm posted $1.15 billion worth of CDO paper according to the league table. "If you want to be number one you, have to take some [risk] on your balance sheet," says one securitization analyst.