Global bond market capitalization amounts to approximately $100 trillion, compared to $60 trillion in the equity markets. Despite debt financing being a large part of the global financial market, the measurements and greenhouse gas reduction investment strategies to date are not nearly as thorough as for equity financing. More recently, the problem has been brought into light by the World Bank, expressing concerns about the crucial role of debt financing activities in the current and upcoming threats caused by climate change. A commonly used credit derivative in debt financing is credit default swaps (CDS), which is an agreement between two parties to exchange the credit risk of a reference entity. The buyer of the contract makes fixed periodic payments to the seller of the contract, who collects the premiums in exchange for making the protection buyer whole in the case of a defaulting reference entity. This thesis aims to minimize the greenhouse gas emission exposure for two CDS indices, iTraxx Main and CDX.IG, each consisting of 125 equally weighted constituents, or companies. The CDS indices are widely used high liquid fixed income instruments. In 2017, iTraxx Main had a monthly trading volume of $330-440 billion notional, and CDX.IG a corresponding volume of $200-275 billion. In order to rate the greenhouse gas emissions of the constituents, the ECOBAR model was used. The model utilizes a discrete ranking score system, where the aim is to obtain as low score as possible. To minimize the ECOBAR score for the baskets, Markowitz Modern Portfolio Theory was used, implemented by using a quadratic programming algorithm. By optimizing the portfolios while retaining a low tracking error and high correlation toward the CDS indices, underlying investment properties were retained. We show that one can construct replicated portfolios of the CDS indices that have significantly lower ECOBAR scores than the indices themselves, whilst still maintaining a low tracking error and high correlation with the actual indices. When constructing baskets of fewer constituents, one can replicate the indices with merely 10-30 constituents, without worsening the tracking error or correlation substantially, and obtain an even lower ECOBAR score for the respective portfolios.

This thesis is focused on the credit derivatives market. The aim is to identify and quantify the causal dependence of the development of credit derivatives market in relation to the dynamics of macroeconomic indicators and on this basis the possible prediction. At first, it shows with the help of literature review of their present and history and gives a better look to the different types of credit derivatives. The following section deals with the use of these underlying instruments in practice, their possible trading, insurance, or speculation, whether on the OTC markets or organized exchanges. The following describes the events in the capital and commercial markets during the financial crisis that is between the years 2005-2010, from which are taken the data for the empirical part. The empirical part is based on correlation analysis (multiple regression model) of a few selected and described macroeconomic indicators enriched with Granger causality test. In the conclusion may be find the discussion of the results and possible recommendations for potential investors.

The newly introduced regulation (EU) 2017/746 aims to make In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (IVDMD), which include companion diagnostic tests (CDx), a widespread method of authorising medicinal products in the European market. However, European SmPCs (Summary of Product Characteristics) currently do not explicitly refer to the term or classify tests associated with medicinal products as CDx. This paper is the first to examine and classify tests for medicinal products currently authorised in Sweden as being potential CDx, under the definitions of the new regulatory paradigm. The aim is to serve as the foundation for future research. 141 medicinal products with potential associated CDx are identified in the database of the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA). These products are then classified under the major ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) therapeutic areas to search for commonalities and patterns in their usage and are later examined in conjunction with the techniques they use. The results reveal that a majority are concentrated in the Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents and Antiinfectives for systemic use therapeutic areas. The methods used by these tests reveal diversity among the test technique usage, including instances where multiple techniques comprise a single CDx product, which may focus on detecting several biomarkers.