Generali seeks high yield analysts in Milan as credit research head builds team
Generali Investments’ head of global credit research has relocated within the firm from Paris to Milan and is seeking hires to build a team in the Italian city

Former BlackRock portfolio manager lands at start-up credit firm Tresidor
Tresidor Investment Management – the new credit manager led by BlackRock’s former head of European credit Michael Phelps and ex-Goldman Sachs synthetic CDO head Edgar Senior – has added a credit portfolio manager to its team ahead of its maiden fund launch

European sub-financials shake-off Santander AT1 shock, outperforming senior fins and corps
Santander’s decision yesterday not to call a €1.5 billion additional tier one (AT1) bond shocked investors in the asset class. But while this may have been expected to bring a wider reverberation of pain, investors and strategists have noted a firming up of the European financial bond sector today

HSBC boosts single name CDS and index trading with experienced hire
HSBC has added a former index trading head to its credit team in London

Deutsche plots single name CDS return and index push with two senior hires
Deutsche Bank has made two senior credit trading hires to its London office, with sources saying these portend a revival of its CDS market-making business

CDS lives to bring more fights as it steers past Ziggo and Sears
Credit default swaps have navigated two big tests of their rules, holding up to scrutiny on Ziggo Bond Finance (ZBF) and Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp (SRAC), despite warnings they could weaken the product

Isda sets 27 February deadline for German bank CDS protocol adherence
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) has launched a protocol for German bank CDS, as the industry looks to adapt to a change in the country’s law regarding senior financial debt

CDS sell-off brings profit-taking opportunity for basis trade players
Profit-taking on basis trades between CDS and cash bonds has begun, with the strong run for credit markets since the start of the year having hit a bump yesterday

GAM launches quantitatively-managed credit Ucits fund
The new fund is anticipated to offer “strategic allocation to credit with tactical ability to reduce exposure in challenging markets”.

Pacific Gas & Electric CDS set for high recovery as initial obligations trade above 74
Pacific Gas and Electric Company CDS look set for a high recovery, despite a long list of obligations being selected as deliverables into the credit event auction for the defaulted borrower, since eligible bonds are all quoted in the mid-70s or 80s

Bank of England agrees post-Brexit recognition of UK central clearers with Esma
The Bank of England and the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) have agreed to continue to recognise central counterparties (CCPs) and the central securities depository (CSD) established in the United Kingdom in the event of a no-deal Brexit

Pacific Gas & Electric triggers bankruptcy credit event
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has ruled, by 14 votes to one

CDS food fight as UNFI sues Goldman Sachs over SuperValu deal
United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI) has summoned Goldman Sachs to court, accusing the bank of bad faith in the way it handled the US retailer’s buyout of SuperValu last year, a transaction which caused the target firm’s CDS spread to bloat by over 200bp in one day

Isda seeks fallback spread vendor for derivatives
The International Swaps & Derivatives Association is seeking an independent service provider to calculate and publish adjustments to fallbacks it will use in interest rate benchmarks for its Isda definitions

Esma requests derivatives clearing reprieve for smaller counterparties as deadline looms
With time running out for market participants to comply with a 21 June deadline to start centrally clearing over-the-counter credit and interest rate derivatives, the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has pleaded with national regulators to overlook the failure of smaller counterparties who may subsequently be absolved from the requirement in any case since thresholds are not yet finalised

Pacific Gas & Electric credit event posed following Chapter 11 filing
The Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has been asked to rule on whether Pacific Gas and Electric has triggered a credit event, after the San Francisco headquartered firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in its history

Central counterparties need to improve after Nasdaq Clearing member default, says Isda
Derivative central counterparties (CCPs) must look to make a number of improvements to risk practices, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has said in a paper that follows a clearing member default at Nasdaq Clearing in September

Boost for Parker Drilling protection buyers as CDS settles lower than expected
Parker Drilling credit default swaps have settled at a lower value than expected, after physical settlement sell requests drove down the price at auction and increased the windfall for protection buyers

Parker Drilling recovery implied at 45 cents as dealers get set for CDS auction
An auction to settle credit default swaps referencing Parker Drilling will take place today, with bond trading levels of the defaulted company implying a payout to protection buyers of around 45-46 cents on the dollar

Ziggo CDS protection buyers get a lift as DC votes for successor
Holders of credit default swap protection on Ziggo Bond Finance have received a boost, with the EMEA Determinations Committee ruling that contracts structured under the 2014 Isda credit derivative definitions have a successor – dispelling fears they would be orphaned.

Sears CDS settles well above bonds on physical settlement squeeze
Predictions that credit default swaps referencing Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp would recover at a high level have been borne out, with an auction to settle the contracts having returned a value of almost 80 cents on the dollar – nearly 30 points higher than where bonds of the bankrupt US retailer have been quoted

Dealers gear up to settle Sears CDS and rule on Ziggo successor
The long wait to settle the final price of Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps will end today with a credit event auction, while investors could also learn whether there is successor to contracts referencing deregistered Ziggo Bond Finance

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider

Sears CDS auction to proceed this week as dealers reject delay request
Dealers on the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee have rejected a call to delay this week’s auction to settle Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps, although it was a split decision rather than unanimous vote

Delay sought on Sears credit event auction to free up deliverables
The Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee will meet today to consider whether or not to delay a forthcoming auction to settle Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps, after a market participant requested more time to allow a wider pool of deliverable obligations to become available