Synthetic ABS: Volatile ABX index stymies tranches

"Several dealers are not at the right level of readiness because there are technicalities in the ABS product that are very different to the credit (iTraxx) product – modelling, behaviour, operational aspects of handling the flow," says Georges Assi, global co-head of CDO and structured credit at Lehman Brothers.

Only a limited number of the 16 or so dealers that are involved in TABX were making two-way markets during the early days of the product. Deutsche, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan were among those that were widely believed to be active market participants. However, banks such as Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley and UBS said they were also involved.

"I think it’s not surprising – you saw the transition from models to market in credit correlation, which was easier to translate as most people’s models were roughly similar, ie, base correlation," says a structured credit veteran. "The problem with ABS is...