Abstract
We examine the role of asset-backed security collateralized debt obligations (ABS CDOs) as a primary catalyst for the financial crisis. We show how ABS CDOs became the main investment vehicle for the riskiest investment-grade securities in the private-label mortgage market. We estimate a final tally of writedowns on ABS CDOs, $410 billion in total, with $325 billion assumed by AAA and “super-senior” securities, which had minimal capital, margin, or liquidity requirements. Pre-crisis regulations allowed excessive leverage at some firms investing in these securities, imperiling their solvency and placing them at the center of the financial crisis.
TOPICS: Asset-backed securities (ABS), credit risk management, financial crises and financial market history
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In this issue
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- Article
- Abstract
- NONPRIME RISK TRANSMITTED THROUGH PLMBS
- HOW THE SECURITIZATION PROCESS CONCENTRATED AND MAGNIFIED PLMBS LOSSES IN ABS CDOs
- HOW BIG WERE ABS CDO LOSSES AND WHO HELD THE ABS CDO RISK?
- MODEL RISK: WHAT WENT SO WRONG WITH ABS CDO MODELS?
- MORTGAGE RISK TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM BY LEVERAGE
- CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED
- ADDITIONAL READING
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- APPENDIX A
- APPENDIX B
- ENDNOTES
- REFERENCES
- Supplemental
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