An implied volatility is the volatility implied by the market price of an option based on the Black-Scholes option pricing model. In cap market, a cap/floor is quoted by implied volatilities but not prices. An interest rate cap volatility surface is a three-dimensional plot of the implied volatility of a cap as a function of strike and maturity.

The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) is a new Basel committee framework for the next generation market risk regulatory capital rules. It is inspired by the undercapitalisation of trading book exposures witnessed during the financial crisis. FRTB aims to address shortcoming of the current Basel 2.5 market risk capital framework.

Funding Valuation Adjustment (FVA) is introduced to capture the incremental costs of funding uncollateralized derivatives. It can be referred to as the difference between the rate paid for the collateral to the bank’s treasury and rate paid by the clearinghouse. Also FVA can be thought of as a hedging cost or benefit arising from the mismatch b…[Read more]

Credit valuation adjustment (CVA) is the market price of counterparty credit risk that has become a central part of counterparty credit risk management. By definition, CVA is the difference between the risk-free portfolio value and the true/risky portfolio value. In practice, CVA should be computed at portfolio level. That means calculation…[Read more]

Collateral is a property or an asset that a borrower offers as a way for a lender to secure the loan. Collateral arrangement is a risk reduction tool that mitigates risk by reducing credit exposure. Collateral doesn’t turn a bad counterparty into a good one and doesn’t eliminate credit risk. Instead, it just reduces the loss at the time of def…[Read more]

Counterparty credit risk (CCR) is the risk of loss that will be incurred in the event of default by a counterparty. It will be incurred in the event of default by a counterparty. Only over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and financial security transactions (e.g., repo) are subject to counterparty risk. If one party of a contract defaults, the…[Read more]

Counterparty credit risk (CCR) refers to the risk that a counterparty to a bilateral financial derivative contract may fail to fulfill its contractual obligation causing financial loss to the non-defaulting party. It will be incurred in the event of default by a counterparty.

This article presents a generic model for pricing financial derivatives subject to counterparty credit risk. Both unilateral and bilateral types of credit risks are considered. Our study shows that credit risk should be modeled as American style options in most cases, which require a backward induction valuation. To correct a common mistake in the…[Read more]

This article presents a new model for valuing a credit default swap (CDS) contract that is affected by multiple credit risks of the buyer, seller and reference entity. We show that default dependency has a significant impact on asset pricing. In fact, correlated default risk is one of the most pervasive threats in financial markets. We also show…[Read more]