Using the criteria of the rating agencies, the authors tested how wide the AAA tranches created from residential mortgages can be. They found that the AAA ratings assigned to ABSs were not totally unreasonable but that the AAA ratings assigned to tranches of Mezz ABS CDOs cannot be justified

A feature of credit markets is the large difference between probabilities of default calculated from historical data and probabilities of default implied from bond prices (or from credit default swaps). This paper illustrates and discusses the reasons for the difference between historical and...

The authors propose a simple model for incorporating wrong-way and right-way risk into the Monte Carlo simulation that is used to calculate credit value adjustment (CVA). The model assumes a relationship between the hazard rate of a counterparty and variables whose values are generated, or can...

A company's credit default swap spread is the cost per annum for protection against a default by the company. In this paper we analyze data on credit default swap spreads collected by a credit derivatives broker. We first examine the relationship between credit default spreads and bond yields...

This article presents a new model for valuing a credit default swap (CDS) contract that is affected by multiple credit risks of the buyer, seller and reference entity. We show that default dependency has a significant impact on asset pricing. In fact, correlated default risk is one of the most...

The unilateral defaultable claim valuation problems have been studied extensively, but the valuation of a bilateral contingent claim with asymmetric credit qualities is still lacking convincing mechanism. This paper presents an analytical model for valuing contingent claims, e.g., interest rate...

This chapter explains how the main types of credit derivatives work and how they are valued. Central to the valuation of credit derivatives is an estimation of the probability that reference entities will default. The chapter discusses both the risk-neutral probabilities of default implied from...