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Credit Risk transfer. OECD-IAIS-ASSAL Fourth Conference on Insurance Regulation and Supervision in Latin America Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, May 6 th -9 th , 2003 Jens Verner Andersen jva@nationalbanken.dk. Outline. Profile of credit risk transfer market
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Credit Risk transfer OECD-IAIS-ASSAL Fourth Conference on Insurance Regulation and Supervision in Latin America Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, May 6th-9th, 2003 Jens Verner Andersen jva@nationalbanken.dk
Outline • Profile of credit risk transfer market • Incentives for undertaking risk transfers • Financial stability implications • Concluding remarks
Introduction • Credit risk transfer mechanisms comprise a wide group of credit derivatives • Transfer risks embedded in credit lending (corporate loans or bonds) • Change financial sector landscape: Bridging bank and insurance activities with capital markets
Introduction (con’d)- building blocks • Credit derivatives isolate an entity’s/pool of credit’s credit risks • risks include bankruptcy, failure to pay and restructuring of bonds or loans • Liquid standardised markets – governed by 1999 ISDA Credit Derivatives definitions Reference entity Protection Buyer Protection Seller Premium Contingent payment on default
Factors generating growth- protection buyers • Capital optimisation: • Increased focus on capital charges as an integral part of credit lending • Risk/return • Improved risk management options: • Sector • Geographic • Retain commercial clients: • without having negative concentration impacts • Preserve relationship discount • Sector hedges • Regulatory capital relief
Factors generating growth- protection sellers • Enhancing yields: Decline in interest rates across the board in combination with lower supply of sovereigns have increased end-investors’ demand for new instruments. • Return on Capital: Deploy capital more efficiently - obtain higher risk adjusted returns. • Excess capital in the insurance sector • Leverage expertise and brand in related businesses
Value added in insurance companies • Separating value creation into two entities: • Insuring risks: Issuing insurance contracts that more than cover the associated production costs, including capital cost. • Investing cash from premiums until claims are paid: Achieving an investment result that beats the benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis. • Insurance companies focus on shareholder value by: • Managing capital more efficiently: constrain capital to business generating sufficient profit. • Risk transfer techniques: Credit enhancement is innovative use of surplus capital. • Apply basic underwriting skills in related areas
Factors generating growth- market factors • New product types - Not only a hedging device • Structured products enhance liquidity in credit derivative markets • Broader investor interest • Continuous price setting in largest credit types in electronic systems (eg. Bloomberg)
Financial stability implications • Regulatory arbitrage • Regulatory • Capital • Accounting • Learning curve risks • Complex business on the borderline between banking and insurance: Do market participants understand risks? • Risk management • Adequate pricing and proper valuation are demanding but important when risks crystallise. • Counterpart exposures may still exist • An integral part of corporate culture
Financial stability implications (cont’d) • Transparency and disclosure • Lack of transparency • Rating agencies play a special role • Fitch Ratings special report: Global Credit Derivatives: Risk Management or Risk • Consumer protection issues • New types of risks have been transferred to small investors in CIS type schemes, variable annuities, and DC pension schemes • Pay more attention to aspects related to final consumers
Concluding remarks • Potential benefits from credit derivatives: • Risk transfer markets offer opportunities for improved risk management. • Facilitate more manageable credit- and insurance cycles as deployment of capital is improved. • Depends on management of new risks • Capital market innovation is a challenge for users and authorities. • Capital market integrity issues related to accounting, capital and consumer protection • Enhanced transparency is needed