VIDEO: Financial Guarantors, Rating Agencies and CDO Underwriters

Bloomberg Television - February 5, 2008
JT Note: Financial guarantors normally do not mark-to-market guarantees, any products that must be marked to market – require mark-to-market treatment.

Janet Tavakoli, president of Tavakoli Structured Finance Inc., talked with Bloomberg's Brian Sullivan about downgrades of financial guarantors noting that MBIA, Ambac and FGIC do not currently merit "Triple-A" ratings. Absent a bailout, it appears the financial guarantors will be downgraded.

She also discussed the role of the rating agencies and subprime backed CDO underwriters.

Janet Tavakoli is the president of Tavakoli Structured Finance, a Chicago-based firm that provides consulting to financial institutions and institutional investors. Ms. Tavakoli has more than 20 years of experience in senior investment banking positions, trading, structuring and marketing structured financial products. She is a former adjunct professor of derivatives at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. She is the author of: Credit Derivatives & Synthetic Structures (John Wiley & Sons, 1998, 2001), Structured Finance & Collateralized Debt Obligations (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Janet Tavakoli's book on the global financial meltdown is Dear Mr. Buffett: What An Investor Learns 1,269 Miles From Wall Street (Wiley 2009)


Clients of Tavakoli Structured Finance have the benefit of proprietary consultation, which is not available in any other paid or public forum. Clients also commission proprietary research and analysis.