In almost every financial market crisis we can observe widening credit spreads, especially in the last years during the subprime and sovereign debt crisis. But what exactly drives the credit spread? This paper will outline static components, i.e. default risk, liquidity, risk and the relative...

This study analyzes the loss potential arising from investments into CDS for a sample of large U.S. and German mutual funds. Further, it investigates whether the comments funds make on CDS use in periodic fund reports are consistent with the disclosed CDS holdings. For several funds in the U.S.,...

Banks increasingly recognize the need to measure and manage the credit risk of their loans on a portfolio basis. We address the subportfolio "middle market". Due to their specific lending policy for this market segment it is an important task for banks to systematically identify regional and...

This study analyzes the loss potential arising from investments into CDS for a sample of large U.S. and German mutual funds. Further, it investigates whether the comments funds make on CDS use in periodic fund reports are consistent with the disclosed CDS holdings. For several funds in the U.S.,...

We apply Geometric Arbitrage Theory to obtain results in mathematical finance for credit markets, which do not need stochastic differential geometry in their formulation. We obtain closed form equations involving default intensities and loss given defaults characterizing the...

Credit default swaps (CDSs) and deep out-of-the-money put (DOOMP) options can both be used as a credit protection instrument. However, partial market segmentation results in deviations between firm hazard rates implied by these contracts. These deviations are driven by a systematic...

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of hedging a defaultable bond, that may not be at par, with a credit default swap (CDS) by quantifying the variance of the hedging errors and determining the optimal hedge ratio. The static hedging framework uses bond recovery and time to default, which are...

The collapse of Lehman Brothers illustrated the importance of managing prime broker counterparty risks for hedge funds. Liquidity shocks to prime brokers can lead to cycles of deleveraging that produce losses at funds and potentially have harmful effects on financial market function and credit...

Cross-market deviations in equity put option prices and credit default swap spreads are temporal and revert to their usual level shortly after they occur, on average within about one week. The process of reversion involves predictable and economically significant changes also in the equity...