Word: strata
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Before explaining the nuts and bolts of Strata's structure, it may be wise to put down your Blackberry, mute your CNBC program and turn down your iPod. This stuff is very tricky, perhaps far more so than any investment should be. That's part of the problem. (See the worst business deals...
...Here's how Strata worked: The original investment (made by hedge funds or other big investors) was $20 million, plus a fee paid to the underwriter, Bank of America, for structuring the bond. Bank of America then took the $20 million and bought some liquid, safe asset, such as Treasury bonds. Those safe bonds then became Strata's collateral...
...comes the messy part. Bank of America used Strata's collateral as the backing against which it could write credit default swaps (CDS), that is, insurance contracts based on whether some other bonds get paid back. As a writer, or seller, of CDS contracts, Strata investors get a regular fee, much like a annual amount any insurance holder would pay, for guaranteeing the buyer of the insurance against losses on the bonds. All told, Bank of America wrote CDS contracts worth $20 million based on the debts of as many as 75 companies. Add the fees from the insurance contracts...
...Here's the catch: If the bonds Strata insured against go bad, Strata is on the hook for the losses. And in a twist on regular insurance, the buyer of a CDS contract [i.e., the insured] doesn't actually have to own the bond. If the bond goes belly up, they get paid as if they had, pocketing the insurance payout as a profit, which of course would be a loss for the owners of Strata...
...wait, there's more. Unlike other CDOs, Strata is a so-called single tranche CDO. Most CDOs own hundreds of millions of dollars of loans. Those loans are pooled together and then various bonds are sold based on the portfolio. But all the bonds are not the same. They are stacked based on risk. The highest tranche bond gets paid its dividends based on the first loan payments that come in the door. Bonds at the bottom of the stack get paid last, which means those investments are wiped out first if borrowers fail to pay back their loans. Those...