Why Do Volatility ETPs Reverse Split?
(Sep 2013)
We still get a lot of questions about VXX, TVIX, and all of the other VIX-related exchange-traded products(ETPs). We've talked before about the persistent loss of value due to negative roll yield, as well as issues surrounding TVIX's suspension of share creations. We've also talked about some of the newer volatility products that attempt to mitigate some of the issues with the older generation of products. We've also analyzed whether VIX-based ETFs could serve as a hedge to equity...
Regulators Soften on Credit Risk Retention Rule
(Aug 2013)
Yesterday financial regulators proposed a revised rule addressing the retention of credit risk for sponsors of securitizations -- see the proposed rule .1 The thought is that by removing the separation between the origination and securitization of loans, lenders will focus more on the quality of loans rather than the quantity, as they would have to keep some 'skin in the game' when structuring asset-backed securities.
The original March 2011 proposal required securitizers to retain at least...
Banks Water Down Loan Terms in Quest for Growth
(Aug 2013)
The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) is reporting that banks are watering down terms of new loans under competitive pressure. For example, some banks are increasing the length of amortization from the usual 15 years to the 25 years, others are decreasing required debt-service coverage from 1.25 to as low as 1 times cash flow while still others are waiving cancellation/prepayment fees.
The relaxation of loan standards is not unique to the commercial loan industry. Recently,...
The Effect of Oil Futures Markets on ETF Investors
(Aug 2013)
Barron's reporter Brendan Conway is reporting on a relatively rare phenomenon occurring in oil markets that is benefiting some passive investors. Futures contracts for oil are generally more expensive as the time to expiration increases -- i.e. a contract expiring later is usually more expensive.The story goes that there are costs associated with storing oil and as a result the futures prices reflect the impact of these storage costs.
The current situation in the oil markets is the reverse:...
Goldman Sachs Sued Over Aluminum Storage
(Aug 2013)
We mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Goldman Sachs has been in the business of aluminum metal storage for quite a while. A NY Times investigation found that, through a subsidiary, Goldman Sachs has been artificially inflating the prices of aluminum by magnifying storage costs.
Bloomberg News, the NY Times, and Law360 arereporting that Superior Extrusion Inc., a Michigan-based aluminum processor, has filed a class action lawsuit that alleges Goldman Sachs and theLondon Metal Exchange (LME)...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - July 26th, 2013
(Jul 2013)
SEC Charges Former Portfolio Manager At SAC Capital with Insider Trading
July 25, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22761)
This week the SEC charged Richard Lee, a former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, with insider trading "ahead of public announcements about a Microsoft-Yahoo partnership and the acquisition of 3Com Corporation by Hewlett-Packard." Lee's alleged insider trading caused "the S.A.C. Capital hedge fund that he managed to generate more than $1.5 million in illegal profits."...
Misrepresentation of Asset Quality in RMBS
(Jul 2013)
Investors in Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) have suffered tremendous losses since 2007. Many junior and mezzanine investors were wiped out by the asset pools' delinquency rates coupled with the subordination embedded in these structured securities. Since then, there has been a proliferation of litigation alleging that the underwriters and originators of RMBS misrepresented the risks of these products. An interesting new paper by Professors Piskorski and Witkin of Columbia...
Similar Structured Product Premia in US and Europe
(Jul 2013)
One point we've made again and again in our research is that structured products -- debt securities with market-contingent payoffs -- tend to be priced at a premium to face value. We have documented premia in reverse convertibles, autocallables, absolute return barrier notes, principal-protected notes, dual directionals, and over 17,000 individual products freely available in our searchable structured product database.
Recently, the SEC has required structured product issuers to disclose an...
Reverse Convertibles and Event Risk
(Jun 2013)
Reverse convertibles are short-term debt securities issued by banks whose return of principal at maturity is contingent upon the returns of the linked stock. Although these notes typically pay relatively high coupons, they expose investors to losses on the underlying asset, especially if those losses are beyond the trigger level. Academic research shows that these coupons are not adequately compensating the investor for the market risk that they are bearing by investing in the notes. For...
Investors Bristle at New Structured Product Valuations
(Jun 2013)
Back in February, the SEC issued a letter to structured product issuers that required them to estimate and prominently state the estimated value of the notes to investors. According to Risk.net, as issuers have begun doing so, many investors have "expressed surprise" at how low those valuations are.
However, these valuations should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the structured product literature, which has documented significant discounts for a wide variety of product types. You can...
