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Credit default swaps and financial stability

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  • Rama Cont

    (LPMA - Laboratoire de Probabilités et Modèles Aléatoires - UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 - UPD7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Credit default swaps (CDSs), initially intended as instruments for hedging and managing credit risk, have been pinpointed during the recent crisis as being detrimental to fi nancial stability. We argue that the impact of credit default swap markets on fi nancial stability crucially depends on clearing mechanisms and capital and liquidity requirements for large protection sellers. In particular, the culprits are not so much speculative or "naked" credit default swaps but inadequate risk management and supervision of protection sellers. When protection sellers are inadequately capitalised, OTC (over-the-counter) CDS markets may act as channels for contagion and systemic risk. On the other hand, a CDS market where all major dealers participate in a central clearing facility with adequate reserves can actually contribute to mitigating systemic risk. In the latter case, a key element is the risk management of the central counterparties, for which we outline some recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Rama Cont, 2010. "Credit default swaps and financial stability," Post-Print hal-00545742, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00545742
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ausloos, Marcel & Castellano, Rosella & Cerqueti, Roy, 2016. "Regularities and discrepancies of credit default swaps: a data science approach through Benford's law," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 8-17.
    2. Paddrick, Mark & Young, H. Peyton, 2021. "How safe are central counterparties in credit default swap markets?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101170, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Mark Paddrik & H. Peyton Young, 2016. "Contagion in the CDS Market," Working Papers 16-12, Office of Financial Research, US Department of the Treasury.
    4. Juan Ignacio Pe~na, 2019. "Credit Cycles, Securitization, and Credit Default Swaps," Papers 1901.00177, arXiv.org.
    5. Michele Leonardo Bianchi, 2012. "An empirical comparison of alternative credit default swap pricing models," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 882, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Rama Cont & Thomas Kokholm, 2013. "Central Clearing of OTC Derivatives: bilateral vs multilateral netting," Papers 1304.5065, arXiv.org.
    7. Paddrick, Mark & Rajan, Sriram & Young, H. Peyton, 2020. "Contagion in derivatives markets," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100868, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. D’Errico, Marco & Battiston, Stefano & Peltonen, Tuomas & Scheicher, Martin, 2018. "How does risk flow in the credit default swap market?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 53-74.
    9. Jakob Moggia, 2021. "Moral Responsibility for Systemic Financial Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 461-473, March.
    10. Gabriele Visentin & Stefano Battiston & Marco D'Errico, 2016. "Rethinking Financial Contagion," Papers 1608.07831, arXiv.org.
    11. Mark Paddrik & Sriram Rajan & H. Peyton Young, 2020. "Contagion in Derivatives Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(8), pages 3603-3616, August.
    12. Cont Rama & Kokholm Thomas, 2014. "Central clearing of OTC derivatives: Bilateral vs multilateral netting," Statistics & Risk Modeling, De Gruyter, vol. 31(1), pages 3-22, March.
    13. Benbouzid, Nadia & Mallick, Sushanta K. & Sousa, Ricardo M., 2017. "Do country-level financial structures explain bank-level CDS spreads?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 135-145.
    14. Nasiri, Maryam Akbari & Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Mishra, Sagarika, 2019. "Reaction of the credit default swap market to the release of periodic financial reports," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Rama Cont & Andreea Minca, 2016. "Credit default swaps and systemic risk," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 247(2), pages 523-547, December.
    16. H Peyton Young & Mark Paddrik, 2019. "How Safe are Central Counterparties in Credit Default Swap Markets?," Economics Series Working Papers 885, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    17. Roshanthi Dias, 2017. "The role of managerial risk-taking in the ‘rise and fall’ of the CDS market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57, pages 117-145, April.
    18. Brunnermeier, M. & Clerc, L. & Scheicher, M., 2013. "Assessing contagion risks in the CDS market," Financial Stability Review, Banque de France, issue 17, pages 123-134, April.
    19. Alain Monfort & Jean-Paul Renne, 2011. "Credit and Liquidity Risks in Euro-area Sovereign Yield Curves," Working Papers 2011-26, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    20. Michele Bianchi & Frank Fabozzi, 2015. "Investigating the Performance of Non-Gaussian Stochastic Intensity Models in the Calibration of Credit Default Swap Spreads," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 46(2), pages 243-273, August.

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