<body.content> <block> <p>CHICAGO, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Caveat Emptor! New developments in structured finance make this warning more appropriate today than in the entire historyof finance. Collateralized Debt Obligations and Structured Finance is the essential navigation guide for finance professionals who want to steer clear of the shoals inherent in the internationalwaters of structured financial products.</p> <p>(Photo: NewsCom: <a>http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030429/CGTU090</a> )</p> <p>Did you know the Vatican Bankwas involved in the abuse of offshore vehicles long before Enron? Tavakoli points out how easy it is to pull off international financial chicanery, and how equally easy it is to prevent it.</p><p>Janet Tavakoli examines a variety of finance topics never before seen in print. Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), credit derivatives, and other new structured finance techniquesconfound financial regulators. Tavakoli combines mathematics and skepticism to tackle burning issues in the post-Enron financial world with clarity and authority.</p> <p>Warren Buffettlabeled credit derivatives “weapons of mass destruction”. Tavakoli calls them “surgical strikes against portfolio credit risk concentration,” but reveals how market professionals can game the system.Tavakoli explains the huge increase in structured finance arbitrage propelled by credit derivatives, but highlights hidden costs to financial institutions — not to mention Mr. Buffett — duped intosometimes taking on more risk than they realize.</p> <p>Many investors who thought they owned AAA credits will discover to their dismay that their investments are riskier than theyrealized. In fact, their investments do not merit a AAA rating. Many investors in CDO equity will find they were short-changed on the cash flows they thought they owned. Many capital markets managerswill discover their employees are running hedge funds and propping up their bonuses while stuffing the trading books with undisclosed risks. Tavakoli unveils this and more while offering solutionsand deterrents.</p> <p>Structured finance is a powerful tool, and Tavakoli is a proponent. She makes the case that structured finance is a necessary tool to the continued development offinancial management. For every problem, Tavakoli suggests a reasonable solution.</p> <p>Collateralized Debt Obligations and Structured Finance By Janet Tavakoli (John Wiley &Sons, 338 pages, $79.95) ISBN 0471462209 </p> <media media-type=”image”>
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<media-caption class=”picture”>Photo: NewsCom: <a>http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030429/CGTU090</a><br/><br/> AP Archive: <a>http://photoarchive.ap.org/</a><br/><br/> PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840
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</media> <datasource>Tavakoli Structured Finance, Inc.</datasource> </block> <block class=”contact”> <p>CONTACT: Janet Tavakoli, President of Tavakoli Structured Finance, Inc.,<br/> +1-312-540-0243, <virtloc idsrc=”dummy” value=”dummy”>[email protected]</virtloc> </p> </block> <block class=”website”> <p>Web site: <a>http://www.tavakolistructuredfinance.com/</a> </p> </block> </body.content>
