Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

University, Diss.--Tübingen, 2007.

Background: The financial crisis of 2007-2010 had a massive impact on the financial markets worldwide. The crisis was partly blamed on the credit derivatives collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. These instruments were used to create leverage and speculation, which led to uncertainty in the financial system worldwide. There has been no recent documentation of how credit derivatives are used in Swedish banks, and what risks and opportunities they bring along. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the use of credit derivatives in Swedish banks, what benefits and risks they may generate and how the recent financial crisis has affected their use. Research Method: This is a qualitative multiple case study which uses an inductive approach. The study covers four cases, three of the largest Swedish commercial banks, and a bank that specializes on international financing. Seven people working in different fields in these banks have been interviewed. Conclusions: Credit derivatives are mostly used for hedging in Swedish banks, which mainly involves the use of credit default swaps, and sometimes iTraxx. Purely speculative trades are rare. The risks that arise are mainly due to lack of transparency in OTC trading, and abusive use of these instruments. Credit derivatives greatly facilitate risk management in banks. Regulations have increased since the financial crisis and the demand for more complex products greatly decreased.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität St. Gallen, 2009.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

在市場上最常被用來評價抵押債務債券(Collateralized Debt Obligation, CDO)的分析方法即為應用大樣本同質性資產組合(Large Homogeneous Portfolio, LHP)假設之單因子關聯結構模型(One Factor Copula Model)。由過去文獻指出，自2008年起，抵押債務債券的商品結構已漸漸出現改變，而目前所延伸之各種單因子關聯結構模型在新型商品的評價結果中皆仍有改善空間。 在本文中使用標準化偏斜Student-t分配(Standardized Skew Student-t distribution, SSTD)取代傳統的高斯分配進行抵押債務債券之分券的評價，此分配擁有控制分配偏態與峰態的參數。但是與Student-t分配相同，SSTD同樣不具備穩定的摺積(convolution)性質，因此在評價過程中會額外消耗部分時間。而在實證分析中，以單因子SSTD關聯結構模型評價擔保債務債券新型商品之分券時得到了較佳的結果，並且比單因子高斯關聯結構模型擁有更多參數以符合實際需求。 / The most widely used method for pricing collateralized debt obligation(CDO) is the one factor copula model with Large Homogeneous Portfolio assumption. Based on the literature of discussing, the structure of CDO had been changed gradually since 2008. The effects for pricing new type CDO tranches in the current extended one factor copula models are still improvable. In this article, we substitute the Gaussian distribution with the Standardized Skew Student-t distribution(SSTD) for pricing CDO tranches, and it has the features of heavy-tail and skewness. However, similar to the Student-t distribution, the SSTD is not stable under convolution as well. For this reason, it takes extra time in the pricing process. The empirical analysis shows that the one factor SSTD copula model has a good effect for pricing new type CDO tranches, and furthermore it brings more flexibility to the one factor Gaussian copula model.

This diploma work describes the financial and economical crisis that has emerged in the USA during the year 2007. In the work the preceding recessions and the flow of the current crisis are being analyzed. Attention is also given to a detailed study of the pre-crisis period in the USA economics and the identification of the root causes of the crisis and their interrelationship. The final part of the work is dedicated to the examination of the crisis consequences and the possible ways of its progress

The main task of the diploma thesis is an analysis of financial performance and position of Morgan Stanley during several successive periods before and during the subprime financial crisis. Through the analysis of trends in key items, it also demonstrates strong cyclicality of financial performance and position of the investment bank. The first chapter deals with history and key divisions of the Company. The following chapter generally discusses selected phenomena, which, as per the author's view, significantly influenced industry-wide record-breaking performance during the period before the subprime crisis, and which substantially determined Morgan Stanley's risk profile and performance's corrections later during the Crisis. The core part of the Thesis is conceived as an analysis of financial performance and position of Morgan Stanley during the selected periods. The analysis of pre-crisis period until 2006 in the third chapter demonstrates growth of activities lying behind the unprecedented profitability of the Institution. The following fourth chapter analyzes deteriorating financial performance during the subprime crisis and indicates crucial strategy changes, implemented by the Company at the end of 2008. Effects of the strategic changes and challenges of the future development of the Institution are discussed in the last chapter. Additionally, the Thesis includes annexes, which further deal with selected topics and their general relations to investments banks and two annexes which compare Morgan Stanley with its nearest peers during specific periods.

依據之前的文獻研究，市場上主要是在LHP (Large Homogeneous Portfolio) 假設下利用單因子常態關聯結構模式(One factor double Gaussian copula model) 評價擔保債權憑證 (Collateralized debt obligation, CDO)。但這會造成擔保債權憑證的評價與市場報價的差距過大，且會造成base correlation偏斜的情況。Kalemanova et al. (2007) 提出用Normal inverse Gaussian (NIG) 取代常態分配評價擔保債權憑證，此模型不但計算快速而且可以準確估計權益分券 (equity tranche) 的價格，但是它也過於高估了其它的分券的價格。 在本文中使用多變量封閉常態分配(Closed skew normal, 簡稱CSN) 分配取代NIG分配作擔保債權憑證分券的評價，CSN分配具有常態分配的性質，其線性組合仍具有封閉性的特質，且具有較多的參數以控制分配的偏態與峰態。但是與單因子常態關聯結構模式相同，多變量封閉常態分配的單因子關聯結構模式仍然無法估計的很準確，僅有在最高等級分券(senior tranche)的評價上有明顯的改進。 因此在本文中我們使用NIG與CSN複合分配之單因子關聯結構模式評價擔保債權憑證分券，在實例分析時得到極佳的評價結果，並且比單因子常態關聯結構模型具有更多的的參數以使模型更符合實際的需求。 / This article extends the Large Homogeneous Portfolio (LHP) and one factor double Gaussian copula approach for pricing CDOs. In the literature, the one factor double Gaussian copula model under LHP assumption fails to fit the prices of CDO tranches, moreover, it leads to the implied base correlation skew. Some researchers proposed using one factor double NIG copula model to price CDO tranches. It not only economizes on time but also fits the equity tranches exactly, but NIG models do not price other tranches well simultaneously. On the other hand, we substitute the NIG distribution with the Closed Skew normal (CSN) distribution. This family also has properties similar to the normal distribution, which is closure under convolution, and has extra parameters to control the shape. By using this model we get a better fit in the senior tranches, but it seriously overprices subordinate tranches. Thus we consider a mixture distribution of NIG and CSN distributions. The employments of this mixture distribution are comparatively well, and furthermore it brings more flexibility to the dependence structure.

The dissertation is composed of three empirical research papers analyzing the development on credit derivatives markets in recent years characterized by the global financial crisis in 2007- 2009 and subsequent European sovereign debt crisis. The basic motivation of the thesis is to contribute to the clarification of the turbulent development on credit derivatives markets. The first paper addresses main flaws of a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market during the global financial crisis. The second paper examines the impact of the Greek debt crisis on sovereign credit default swap (CDS) reliability. The third paper analyzes whether a resulting change in CDS terms restored confidence in CDS contracts. An introductory chapter presents a common framework for the three papers. In the first paper, we examine valuation of a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) in 2007- 2009. One Factor Gaussian Copula Model is presented and five hypotheses regarding CDO sensitivity to entry parameters are analyzed. Four main deficiencies of the CDO market are then articulated: i) an insufficient analysis of underlying assets by both investors and rating agencies; ii) investment decisions arising from the valuation model based on expected cash-flows and neglecting other factors such as mark-to-market losses; iii)...