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what does the global CDS market look like today?
the CDS market originally evolved from privately tailored agreement s between banks and their costumers.Perhaps because of its over-the-counter character, it is not clear exactly when the CDS market came into existence.
According to the office of the comptroller of the currency (OCC), the total notional amount of interest rate and currency derivatives as of the end of the second quarter of 2013 stood at $217.12 trillions , while the total notional amount of credit default swaps outstanding was $11.824 trillion (as of september 27 , 2013), or about 5% of the overall derivatives market . as recently as 2nd quarter 2013, credit derivatives ($13.382 trillion) accounted for 5.72% of the derivatives market globally. as a further sign of growth, now the credit derivatives market has surpassed the size of the equity derivatives market, which stood at $2.08 trillion at the end of 2nd quarter 2013 (source OCC).
the largest provider of CDSs are commercial banks.Traditionally, a bank's business has involved credit risk as it originates loans to corporations. the CDS market offers a bank an attractive way to transfer risk without removing assets from its balance sheet and without involving borrowers. Futher, a bank may use CDSs to diversify its portfolio, which often is concentrated in certain industries or geographic areas. banks are the net buyers of credit derivatives, and according to insurance companies are increasingly becoming dominant participants in the CDS market, primarily as sellers of protection, to enhance investment yields.
CDO total amount outstanding at the end of 2012 was $179.5 billion. as of october 1, 2013 that amount is $150.713 billion (Source SIFMA). the players are mostly insurance companies as well as financial guarantors and hedge funds.
there are no limits on the size or maturity of CDS contracts . however, most contracts fall between $10 million and $20 million in the notional amount. maturity usually ranges from 1 to 10 years, with the 5 year maturity being the most common tenor. mean size and median size of a single-name CDS are $18 million and $10 million respectively (source NY fed).