OTC Val Expands Coverage to Illiquid Mortgage and Asset Backed Products
OTC Valuations (OTC Val) has expanded its securities coverage to address valuation for illiquid mortgage, credit card, and bank loan related products. The vendor claims the extension to these products will accommodate audit and internal risk compliance requirements for securities with no market observable prices. Under liquid market conditions, the fair value of these asset...
Department of Finance Canada Picks Reval Centre for Derivatives Valuations
The Department of Finance Canada has selected Reval Centre for independent derivatives valuations from financial risk management solution and service provider Reval. The government body will use the solution to provide option fair values for its Canada Savings Bond (CSB) and Canada Premium Bond (CPB) retail bonds. The vendor has an existing relationship with the...
Valuations Have Hit the Mainstream, Says New Report from A-Team Group
Valuations are no longer merely a concern for the back office; recent events have meant that they have finally hit the mainstream, according to research by A-Team Group, publisher of this news service. High profile failures and frauds relating to the mis-pricing of assets have made valuations headline news, says Ian Blance, author of the...
Quantifi Adds New Model to Valuation Software for More Realistic Treatment of Market Recovery
Quantifi, a provider of analytics and risk management solutions to the global credit markets, has extended the functionality of its credit derivative valuation software to include a new correlated recovery model, which it says will incorporate a more realistic treatment of recovery in the event of default. Quantifi reckons that institutions need to alter their...
What Goes in Must Come Out: The Importance of Pricing Sources in Central Clearing
By Laurent Paulhac, CEO, Credit Market Analysis The credit crunch exposed significant flaws in the infrastructure of the US$62 trillion credit market. The failure of Bear Stearns, in particular, highlighted the importance of reducing counterparty risk through independent, centralised clearing counterparties. Many such counterparties have thrown their hats into the clearing ring of late, without...
DebtX and Bloomberg Sign Agreement for Loan Pricing Data
Online marketplace for commercial debt, DebtX, has signed an agreement with Bloomberg under which its loan pricing data is available to Bloomberg subscribers via the Bloomberg Professional L service. The vendors hope this will bring a new level of transparency to the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market. DebtX CEO Kingsley Greenland explains: “Bloomberg and DebtX...
Telekurs Rebrands, Partners with ValuePrice and Sets Sights on Valuations
It has been a busy few months for Telekurs, following its rebrand under the Swiss Financial Market Services group as SIX Telekurs and the establishment of a partnership with Frankfurt-based valuations provider ValuePrice. The partners have also announced their first client for their pricing services offering: German asset manager Metzler Investment. The rebrand is part...
ISDA Approves BGC Partners’ Swaps Pages as Pricing References
The International Swaps and Derivative Association (ISDA) has formally recognised interdealer broker BGC Partners’ euro interest rate swap (EUR) and US dollar (USD) interest rate swap pages as price references. The pages will be snapshots of real-time BGC screens taken at a predetermined time daily. ISDA documentation governs the terms to confirm, mark, assign and...
UK FSA Criticises Industry for Inadequate Controls in Valuation Processing
Firms’ valuation processes are becoming increasingly stretched and in some cases are “materially flawed or inadequate”, according to the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). In an open letter to the CEOs of banks and investment firms, FSA chief executive Hector Sants has criticised the lack of due care and attention being given to the area...
CMA Releases New Version of DataVision with Enhanced Curve Modelling
Credit information specialist CMA has released a new version of its same day price verification service for the OTC credit derivatives market, DataVision. According to CMA, DataVision 2.1 includes enhanced curve modelling and an expanded data set. DataVision provides portfolio and risk managers with independent price verification for CDS, indices and tranches based on a...