Astaldi triggers first credit event in iTraxx on-the-run indices for nine years
Astaldi has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Isda-hosted EMEA Credit Determinations Committee has ruled

Astaldi credit event question hangs in balance as EMEA DC meets
The fate of credit default swap contracts referencing Astaldi could be decided today, with the Isda-hosted EMEA Credit Determinations Committee meeting to decide if the Italian builder has triggered a bankruptcy credit event

Isda and Linklaters roll out test version of initial margin docs service
Five and a half months of partnership between the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and Linklaters has borne fruit, with the launch of a test version of an online tool that will allow firms to electronically negotiate and execute initial margin (IM) documentation

Axiom puts tranches at core of push into synthetic credit
Axiom Alternative Investments is set to target both index and bespoke tranches with the launch of Axiom Synthetic Credit Opportunity Fund.

Jefferies creates team and aims to build CSO business
Amid mounting buy-side interest in the synthetic CDO market, sources say that Jefferies is looking to build a US business arranging these transactions  

Hedgers stay put as crossover roll drives trading
Market participants who were positioned short the iTraxx Crossover index, including those using it as a proxy hedge for CLOs, ABS and emerging market credit, are showing greater reluctance than usual to roll into the new series

August: fund performance
CLO spreads jumped wider in August, but funds that invest in these assets have been able to outperform

September: credit funds at a glance
White Oak Global Advisors held a $2.1 billion final close on a new direct lending fund, while Phil Raciti's move from CVC Credit Partners to Halcyon Capital Management was one of the biggest moves in the credit industry

Astaldi credit event question posed as its distress weighs on iTraxx Crossover
Astaldi, a constituent of iTraxx Crossover, has been referred to ISDA-hosted Credit Determinations Committees as a possible bankruptcy credit event – less than two weeks after the index rolled into a new series

Santander issues £1.1 billion SRT featuring UK project finance loans
Banco Santander has completed a £1.12 billion significant risk transfer through a transaction dubbed Fitzroy 2018-1 CLO

Tesla CDS hits big bump on largely self-driven woes
Tesla Motors’ five-year credit default swap is at a widest-ever print of 21.3/23.3 points up front going into the week

IHS Markit launches derivatives initial margin calculator
IHS Markit has launched an Initial Market Calculation Service to help market participants prepare to meet regulatory requirements for non-cleared derivatives trades across credit, commodities, equities, FX and interest rates

Brexit disruption risk for derivatives is uncomfortably high, Nicky Morgan tells ISDA conference
Brexit cast a long shadow over the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s Europe Conference in London this week, as keynote speaker Nicky Morgan, chair of the UK’s House of Commons Select Committee, said the likelihood of a no-deal scenario is over 50% and warned about the disruption this would cause to derivative markets

Cairn adds to its SRT investment team in London
Cairn Capital has appointed Chris Cottrell as senior investment analyst

BlackRock becomes latest manager to explore interval fund structure for credit
Several managers have hit the market with the interval fund structure, as investors look to invest in illiquid strategies through an illiquid fund structure

Protiviti hires ex-structured credit specialist to head European lender due diligence
Consulting firm Protiviti has hired a former structured credit specialist as head of European lender due diligence and risk management

Orchard hires former UBS credit index options and tranches global head
Orchard Global Asset Management has hired an ex-UBS senior correlation trader as a portfolio manager in London

Crossover users face waking up to much tighter index amid credit selection rule change
September could bring the biggest conceptual repurposing of the iTraxx Crossover index since its series 22 expansion, with IHS Markit set to overhaul rules governing how constituent credits are selected

Loss absorbing rules spell wider trading for financials index
An unusually wide roll is expected in the iTraxx Europe Senior Financials basket when it moves from series 29 to 30 this month, as Danish and Spanish banks begin to include new senior non-preferred bonds as their reference obligations for credit default swap contracts

Dealers show appetite to retain tranches amid CSO growth
There are increasing numbers of dealers involved in the CSO market and their approach to issuing bespokes is evolving, attendees at Creditflux’s Credit Dimensions conference heard last month.

Past returns: secret CLO market
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported on the emergence of an inter-dealer market for CLOs

Points up front: super senior CSO investors wanted
As part of a vibrant opening panel at Creditflux’s Credit Dimensions event in New York last month, we came tantalisingly close to issuing a managed CSO in front of a live audience (if you ignore formalities such as warehousing risk and sourcing single name CDS)

Being long-only is just so 1980s
At the Credit Dimensions event in New York, structured credit investors looking to spruce up or repair their portfolios were advised to look at CSOs, index tranches and credit default swaps

Nomura hires EMEA flow credit trading head following departures
Nomura has hired John Gousias to head its flow credit trading business in Europe, the middle east and Africa

Rallye races towards over 50s club in CDS as Astaldi faces Crossover index ejection
Rallye, the parent company of supermarket chain Casino Guichard-Perrachon and a former fellow-constituent of credit default swap index iTraxx Crossover, has surged wider to near 50 points up front in five-year CDS trading