Comment
When push comes to shove
A year on from the financial chaos that characterised the third quarter of 1998, the push to improve credit risk management has gained huge momentum.

Introduction
The dawn of a new era
Proposals for a new capital adequacy framework will affect the use of credit derivatives

Credit derivatives
How much should they cost?
No accurate method for pricing credit derivatives has yet been developed

Documentation
Taming the wild frontier
Isda's new credit derivatives definitions should boost liquidity and transparency

Rating agencies
The problem with junk
Falling credit quality is spurring a rise in defaults
Indexes for the future
New indexes could herald exchange-based credit derivatives

End-users
An appetite for risk
Insurance companies and foreign branches of regional banks are keen to accept risk

Synthetic securitisation
New deal for Europe
Combining credit derivatives with securitisation

Counterparty risk
The drive for disclosure
The banking industry has released its report on counterparty risk

Book reviews
Managing and measuring credit risk

Credit policy
Indecent exposure
Financial institutions are implementing new measures to control credit limits

Credit models
Different strokes
A comparative review of credit risk models