Credit Swaps Investigated by U.S. Justice Department

[csziggy]

Credit Swaps Investigated by U.S. Justice Department
By Matthew Leising

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the market for credit-default swaps, according to Markit Group Ltd., the data provider majority-owned by Wall Street’s largest banks.

“Markit has been informed of an investigation by the Department of Justice into the credit-derivatives and related markets,” spokeswoman Teresa Chick said yesterday in an e- mailed statement in response to questions from Bloomberg News. She declined to comment on the nature of the investigation. “We will work with the Department to provide any information requested of us.”

The antitrust division sent civil investigative notices this month to banks that own London-based Markit to determine if they have unfair access to price information, according to three people familiar with the matter. U.S. lawmakers plan to regulate the $592 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, which includes credit-default swaps blamed for helping worsen the biggest financial calamity since the Great Depression.

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Credit-default swaps -- contracts that protect against or speculate on corporate defaults by paying the buyer the face value of a bond or loan if a company fails to meet its debt agreements -- ballooned almost 100-fold within seven years to represent about $62 trillion by the end of 2007, according to estimates from the New York-based International Swaps & Derivatives Association.

More: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a3mU4TmtYCww

[bluestateguy]

1. Anything that can't be explained in plain simple English must be bad

and that's what credit default swaps are.