Revenge of the minnows

24 November 2020FundsNick Dunbar

Rampant gigantism in the stock market took a blow recently as small-cap stocks enjoyed a run of outperformance. Is this the return of value?

How Covid forbearance gave banks a three trillion dollar boost

3 November 2020BanksBasel rules, CECL, Covid-19, Dodd-Frank Act, investment banking, tradingNick Dunbar

To keep banks operating smoothly during the pandemic, regulators eased capital requirements and boosted trading profits by underpinning financial markets. Did they go too far?

Playing chicken in the high yield market

19 October 2020Creditbankruptcy, corporate bonds, high yield bonds, restructuringNick Dunbar

In 2020, junk bondholders have to choose between painful restructuring and pushing for a repayment that might kill a company

How Covid-19 sent a shiver through bank balance sheets

28 May 2020Bankscounterparty credit risk, credit valuation adjustment, Federal Reserve, mortgage-backed securities, quantitative easing, stress VaR, Value-at-riskNick Dunbar

In value-at-risk models, counterparty exposure and securities holdings, the impact of the pandemic appears across bank balance sheets

The adventures of CECL in banking land

27 May 2020Banks, Risk CommentaryAccounting, CECL, corporate loans, IFRS 9, loan loss provisions, retail loansNick Dunbar

Should accounting be independent of bank supervision? The arrival of IFRS 9 provisioning at the height of the Covid-19 crisis has exposed a three way tussle between auditors, regulators and bank management.

Visualising China’s emerging market lending splurge

16 April 2020EconomicsChina, Covid-19, government bondsNick Dunbar

Emerging market nations may struggle to repay debt in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And for many the biggest lender is China, as a new visualisation shows.

The corporate bond market on 18 March 2020

20 March 2020CreditCovid-19Nick Dunbar

An interactive visualisation of $12 trillion of corporate bonds showing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Free to registered users.

How Covid-19 infected the corporate bond market

20 March 2020Credit, Risk Commentaryairlines, central banks, coronavirus, Covid-19, high yield bondsNick Dunbar

The coronavirus outbreak has infected the corporate bond market as economies grind to a halt. Can trillions of emergency central bank measures keep borrowers alive?

US banks face yield curve stress test

9 March 2020BanksBank of America, Goldman Sachs, interest rates, JP Morgan, mortgage-backed securitiesNick Dunbar

The Covid-19 pandemic is driving bond yields to record lows. Meanwhile, the exposure of large US banks to falling rates has been amplified by regulatory changes and ballooning securities portfolios.