Moody's Leads the RiskTech 100, Followed by SAS

Chartis RiskTech100 list puts Moody's at the top, followed by SAS.  Both have customer satisfaction scores of around 66%. FIS is third.

Other dimensions include Functionality, Core Technology, Strategy, Market Presence and Innovation.

The RiskTech100 has a 2026 overall ranking, category winners (e.g. AI for Banking where SAS wins, FRAML - or "Fraud and Anti Money Laundering" - where Nasdaq wins) and "Ones to Watch" (LikeZero in operational control and governance).

Blue Owl Hit with $5.4bn Redemption Requests

The private credit firm Blue Owl has capped withdrawals following investors trying to pull more than 40% from a single fund. The US Treasury has called in regulators to discuss private credit risks.

David Cameron joins Finback Investment Partners

David Cameron has joined private equity firm Finback Investment Partners, co-founded by ex Florida Governor Jeb Bush (Jeb's changes to Florida's economy led to his state gaining AAA credit ratings for the first time ever). The appointment was disclosed by the UK government's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).

Shell's "AA" Credit Rating Cut to "AA-" by Fitch due to Takeover of BG Group

Moody's has also said it is reviewing credit ratings of oil, gas and mining stocks. These companies are selling assets and slashing headcount due to the rout in commodity prices. On the flip side, the deal makes Shell the UK's largest publically owned company, with HSBC in second place. Shell rival BP is around number 6 in market cap.

Double Debt Crisis Emergency Talks: US is AA+

Sunday is a day of conference calls for finance officials as the twin debt crises of Europe and the US gets discussed, urged on by S&P's downgrade of US debt rating from AAA to AA+. The US Treasury has retorted with a headline called "the $2trillion mistake" regarding S&P's analysis.

Last week the US avoided sovereign default by raising the debt ceiling. But what is the debt ceiling anyway?

The US Constitution gives Congress the sole power to borrow money on the credit of the United States. Right from founding of Congress to 1917, each debt issuance had to be authorised separately. To provide more flexibility in financing from WWI onwards, the concept of "debt ceiling" was introduced, basically limiting the total value of bonds that could be issued.

The largest holders of US debt are China, Japan, UK and Brazil.

Will Bank of Burger King entrepreneur buy Prudential's Old Online Bank

Citi is reported to be looking to sell Egg, the UK online bank, as part of a wider disposal of assets, to simplify the "Frankenbank", that has apparently become too complex to manage.

Egg, created by Prudential, was bought by Citi in 2007 and potential buyers include BSCH and Metro Bank, the first new high-street bank to open in Britain for more than a century.

Metro Bank is backed by Vernon Hill, who also owns several Burger King franchises. 

He has a BS with concentration in finance from Wharton.

Citi has already dispensed with Phibro, a commodity trading unit acquired for net asset value, now owned by Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and HQ'ed in Westport, Connecticut. They have a European office in Duke Street, London. (half-way house between Piccadilly Circus and Green Park). The business was sold due to concern's over its top executive's pay packet ($100m bonus in one year, nine-figure bonus) rather than business concerns.

In the first half of the year, Citi paid $75m to settle SEC charges over failing to disclose the extent of its subprime exposure (more than $40bn). This exposure came from the super-senior tranches of CDOs backed by subprime mortgages and related instruments called "liquidity puts". The puts allowed Citi customers to sell debt securities back to Citi at face value if credit markets froze; clearly Citi was betting that this would never happen.

Greece Downgraded by Fitch, Yields on GBonds Rise!

In Dec09, Fitch (shortly followed by S&P) downgraded Greece's credit rating to BBB+ with negative outlook (the first time in 10 years the country has received a sub-A rating, though still investment grade). Moody's was left with the only A1 rating on Greece's debt. This is a great case study in how the market reacts to a ratings downgrade. Actions: Athens shares fell 6% in response. CMA reported Greece 5yr CDS rose to 226.8 BPS from 209 BPS on Tuesday's NY close (a rise of 17.8bps). 10 yr Greek government bonds fell, yields rose to 5.4%. This also caused the Greek-German 10yr bond yield spread to widen by 4bps to 225bps. Also the Greek finance minister issued mutliple reassurances: "Papaconstantinou (PhD LSE, worked previously at OECD) says Greek banking system not at risk". (STOCKS, BONDS, CREDIT, BOND SPREADS).

Why the concern? What drove the downgrade? The reason is Greece's high levels of debt (forecasted to be 125% of GDP next year). A downgrade is bad for a country - it may make it difficult for the country to raise money in bond markets and through central bank liquidity operations (e.g. through ECB, exchanging sovereign bonds for ECB loans).