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NEWS ABOUT: derivatives market

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AIG Honchos Quit Paris Office, Spurring Fears of Default

$234B at stake as top managers walk

(Newser) - Two of the top managers at AIG's Paris unit have resigned, reports the Wall Street Journal, leaving the insurer scrambling to avoid potential defaults on $234 billion in derivative transactions. The complicated scenario results from a French law that says regulators must approve of the managers' replacements or else pick... More »

Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which... More »

New Obama Plan Aims to Control Exec Pay

(Newser) - The White House will roll out a plan next week to oversee executive pay and more deeply regulate Wall Street, the New York Times reports. Officials are still debating the details, but under the proposal, the Fed will supervise compensation at financial firms, banks, and other companies—even ones that... More »

Obama Goes After AIG Bonuses

President instructs Geithner to use "every legal avenue" to reclaim funds

(Newser) - President Obama has asked Tim Geithner to use “every legal avenue” to prevent AIG from paying out $165 million in bonuses to top employees who had a hand in the company's near-collapse, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about... More »

AIG's Downfall, Part 2: 'Almost Free Money'

Credit default swaps change the game

(Newser) - According to the computer models, credit default swaps almost couldn’t fail. They were the latest derivative contract in 1998, and AIG Financial Products decided to get on board, the Washington Post reports, in the second part of its series on the insurer’s self-destruction. When AIG struck its first... More »

How AIG Destroyed Itself (Part I)

Part 1

(Newser) - The roots of the current financial crisis can be traced back to a series of lunches and late-night dinners between two relatively unknown junk-bond traders 20 years ago. Howard Sosin and Randy Rackson had a plan to change the way the financial world did business, provided they could find a... More »

Battle Over Regulation Looms in '09

Some worry Obama won't do enough to rein in derivatives market

(Newser) - After the economic meltdown of 2008, the coming year will see a battle over one of the most politically contentious issues in finance: the regulation of derivatives markets. Some who opposed government oversight before now acknowledge the need for tighter controls. But they face an uphill battle, reports Newsweek, against... More »

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy

Founding fathers quickly figured out people couldn't be trusted to be selfless

(Newser) - If those who ignore history repeat it, Alan Greenspan must have slept through a few Constitutional history classes. In promoting the risky derivatives market, the former Federal Reserve chairman was depending on individuals' restraint and care for the greater good. But Americans just aren't that altruistic, as the Founding Fathers... More »

TV News Struggles to Explain Crisis Even as Ratings Surge

Networks see viewer interest in formerly esoteric financial instruments

(Newser) - TV news programs are grappling with explaining the financial crisis to an audience suddenly much more interested in business news, the New York Times reports. With CNBC seeing its highest ratings ever and CNN, Fox and MSNBC seeing bumps in recent weeks, news shows have put teams of business pundits... More »

'Monster' Markets Brought World to Edge: German Prez

Köhler, former head of IMF, rips lust for profit, calls for tightened regulaion

(Newser) - Germany's president, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, blasted the system of financial markets responsible for the global credit crisis as a “monster," Der Speigel reports today. Horst Köhler said the world “came close to a collapse of the global financial markets" as the... More »

Mammoth Writedowns Hammer AIG

Insurance giant posts $7.8B 1Q loss as credit woes continue

(Newser) - American International Group posted a record-breaking $7.8 billion first-quarter loss yesterday, reports the Wall Street Journal. The insurance giant blamed the poor results on the sagging housing market, the credit crunch and the see-sawing stock market. It announced plans to raise $12.5 billion to patch up the damage... More »

SocGen: Lax Controls Led to $7.2B Fraud

French bank says 24 internal alarms were ignored over 14 months

(Newser) - Rogue SocGen trader Jerome Kerviel, whose unauthorized deals led to a $7.2 billion loss for the French bank, continued his trading for more than a year after the first warning flag was raised in the department that was supposed to detect risky trading, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kerviel... More »

Mercantile Merger Creates Super Market

Chicago exchanges combine in $12B deal

(Newser) - Chicago's Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange—bitter rivals for decades—will merge to form the world's largest derivatives market in a deal worth close to $12 billion, the Chicago Tribune reports. The merger ends months of jockeying and speculation as another suitor, Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange, failed to mount... More »

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