Credit Derivatives and Structured Credit Trading (Revised Edition)

Over the past few decades, I have watched with great interest the development of derivatives in general, and more recently credit derivatives. Instruments can be used, and misused. Derivatives may be used for hedging and trading in volatilities; at the same time, they may be used for excessive risk taking with inadequate capital. The 2008 global financial crisis resulted from control failures accompanied by traders making bets on a variety of risks based on models that had been validated only in good times. Stressful times act as the acid test for lots of instruments and assumptions, and I am sure credit derivatives will survive this test. Anyone concerned or interested in credit derivatives will find Vinod Kothari’s book useful and comprehensive. Among other things, it also highlights the risks and mechanisms for reducing these using credit derivatives.

Frank J. Fabozzi
Professor in the Practice of Finance. Yale School of Management
Editor, Journal of Portfolio Management

Vinod Kothari’s book provides the reader with a necessary macro and micro picture of the credit derivatives market. Without an appreciation for each piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is credit derivatives, it is impossible to have an understanding of the whole. This has never been truer than right now in the midst of the greatest financial turmoil in a century. Some blame credit derivatives for either causing or amplifying the crisis; others point out that one of the main tools for fixing the impotency of the banking sector is credit derivatives. To varying degrees, all are correct and therefore few can afford to be connected to the credit markets without a thorough understanding of credit derivatives. Vinod provides a comprehensive picture of the drivers behind the market supplemented by a detailed explanation of why institutions get involved. The extensive product details and the accompanying explanations of legal, regulatory, accounting and operational issues complete the picture and arm the reader well for a foray into this crucial sector of the credit markets.

Robert Reoch
Director, New College Capital Ltd.

Credit derivatives have been the most spectacular financial product of the past 15 years. From an obscure product, traded by professional in small amounts, they have transformed into a mammoth product with notional amounts estimated to be about US$60 trillion (up from US$50 billion in 1994). Vinod Kothari’s new book explains the products in detail and explores the various trading strategies. It does so in an objective and scientific manner. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the topic.

Izzy Nelken
President, Super Computer Consulting, Inc.