US DATA: March Sr Credit Officer Opinion Survey on Dealer Financing
(conducted Feb 14-27) indicated little change in credit terms for
counterparties (vs all but 2 in Jan), About 1/3 firms increased
resources and attention to concentrated exposures. More than 1/2
reported hedge funds trying to negotiate more-favorable credit terms,
and a moderate net fraction saw an increase by mutual funds, ETFs,
pensions & endowments. 1/5 said financial leverage by hedge funds had
decreased somewhat. Special Q’s over 6mos: on 3rd party custody, 2/3
had client efforts for 3PC increase considerably; on posting collateral
1/4 said attention devoted to credit exposure related to their posting
increased; on securities borrowed 4/5 said lending programs at custodian
banks or other agents were the largest source, while the rest pointed to
clients. See details on the MNI Main wire.