After a brief review of the literature on rating arbitrage for corporate and structured nance, we introduce the standard criteria adopted by rating agencies to assess riskiness of Constant Proportion Debt Obligations (CPDO). Then, we propose a new rating model in order to incorporate a more...

After a brief review of the literature on rating arbitrage for corporate and structured nance, we introduce the standard criteria adopted by rating agencies to assess riskiness of Constant Proportion Debt Obligations (CPDO). Then, we propose a new rating model in order to incorporate a more...

In the first part we consider a dynamical model for the number of defaults of a pool of names. The model is based on the notion of generalized Poisson process, allowing for more than one default in small time intervals, contrary to many alternative approaches to loss modeling. We illustrate how...

We propose a novel algorithm which allows to sample paths from an underlying price process in a local volatility model and to achieve a substantial variance reduction when pricing exotic options. The new algorithm relies on the construction of a discrete multinomial tree. The crucial feature of...

We develop an arbitrage-free framework for consistent valuation of derivative trades with collateralization, counterparty credit gap risk, and funding costs, following the approach first proposed by Pallavicini and co-authors in 2011. Based on the risk-neutral pricing principle, we derive a...

The strengthening of capital requirements has induced banks and traders to consider charging a so called capital valuation adjustment (KVA) to the clients in OTC transactions. This roughly corresponds to charge the clients ex-ante the profit requirement that is asked to the trading desk. In the...

We study conditions for existence, uniqueness and invariance of the comprehensive nonlinear valuation equations first introduced in Pallavicini et al (2011). These equations take the form of semi-linear PDEs and Forward-Backward Stochastic Differential Equations (FBSDEs). After summarizing the...

The computation of Greeks is a fundamental task for risk managing of financial instruments. The standard approach to their numerical evaluation is via finite differences. Most exotic derivatives are priced via Monte Carlo simulation: in these cases, it is hard to find a fast and accurate...

We analyze the VIX futures market with a focus on the exchange-traded noteswritten on such contracts, in particular we investigate the VXX notes tracking theshort-end part of the futures term structure. Inspired by recent developments incommodity smile modelling, we present a multi-factor...

The crisis that affected financial markets in the last years leaded market practitioners to revise well known basic concepts like the ones of discount factors and forward rates. A single yield curve is not sufficient any longer to describe the market of interest rate products. On the other hand,...