Credit derivatives get cracking

Three years ago investment bankers began to talk about a new class of structured products - credit derivatives. But, despite the talk, almost the only deals done were for the investment banks themselves. Clients weren't interested and hedging was next to impossible.

But, at last, the talking is over and a significant number of transactions are getting done.

The potential of credit derivatives is immense. There are hundreds of possible applications: for commercial banks which want to change the risk profile of their loan books; for investment banks managing huge bond and derivatives portfolios; for manufacturing companies over-exposed to a single customer; for equity investors in project finance deals with unacceptable sovereign risk; for institutional investors that have unusual risk appetites (or just want to speculate); even for employees worried about the safety of their deferred remuneration. The potential uses are so widespread that some market participants argue that credit derivatives...