Ask the Experts: Structured products and credit ratings

Are the Products considered too be the issuing financial institutions' liabilities? Answer: Gary Dale - Investec Credit quality has undoubtedly been the main issue to come out of the Lehmans default over the last year. It has been obvious that credit ratings alone are not a sufficient measure of quality given the high profile defaults of highly rated institutions we have witnessed over the years. Providers are expected to include measures such as CDS levels when assessing appropriate counterparties in addition to any ratings information combined with the usual due diligence. The...