How did Greece manipulate its debt accounts?

Posted on 22. fév, 2010 by Jean Jacques Ohana in Weekly Focus

It has recently been revealed that Greece gamed the European Commission rule by maintaining artificially its Debt to GDP ratio below 60% for several years. In 2001, when Greece joined the single currency zone, it issued more than 10 Billions USD debt denominated in dollar and yen. It contracted a cross currency swap with Goldman [...]

Banks seism and financial crisis

Posted on 05. fév, 2010 by Jean Jacques Ohana in Weekly Focus

Is the financial crisis over? This question has been raised many times, but this is an issue which cannot be solved objectively since we can make as good a case arguing that that the crisis is behind us or on the contrary highlighting the new sources of concern in the financial system.
Riskelia proposes an objective [...]

Sovereign solvency risk and financial stability

Posted on 31. jan, 2010 by Jean Jacques Ohana in Weekly Focus

Since the banking system collapsed in September 2008, private and corporate debts have been replaced by public debt. Since then, sovereign solvency risk has become investors’ major concern, provoking successive dramatic surges in government interest rates: Greece, Portugal and Spain… After the latter countries, which country will be next to be downgraded? The risk concerns [...]

Logique financière : fausses croyances et vrais problèmes

Posted on 22. jan, 2010 by Riskelia in Weekly Focus

Par Christophe Moussu, Professeur à l’ESCP Europe
Pas un jour, pas une heure ne se passe, sans que la logique financière ne soit incriminée. Je reprendrai la phrase en disant que pas un jour, pas une heure ne passe sans que la logique financière ne soit bafouée. En effet, ce que l’opinion publique condamne, ce n’est [...]

Drawing lessons from Harvard University risk management failure

Posted on 11. jan, 2010 by Jean Jacques Ohana in Weekly Focus

In December 2009, Harvard University revealed one billion USD of losses coming from the unwinding of forward swaps (Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won’t Explain). In 2004, while Lawrence Summers was at the head of the university, Harvard set up a long term hedging strategy to secure a fixed rate on its debt [...]

Un an après : réflexions sur la mesure des risques et la régulation du système financier

Posted on 12. déc, 2009 by Steve Ohana in Weekly Focus

Un an après la crise bancaire sans précédent que nous avons traversée, la question du calcul et de la régulation des fonds propres des banques est à l’ordre du jour. Il apparaît de manière claire que les banques disposaient de fonds propres insuffisants avant la crise et que leur ratio d’endettement excessif a constitué une [...]