Financial Times FT.com

Let’s pass on the alphabet soup

By Gillian Tett

Published: December 28 2006 22:01 | Last updated: December 28 2006 22:01

When bright sparks at ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, recently invented an innovative debt product, it triggered a wave of Star Wars jokes. For the eggheads christened their brainchild – which has taken credit markets by storm this winter – a CPDO.

It stands for constant proportion debt obligation but, with a name like that, some bankers quip, it might be a new friend for R2D2 and C3PO, the robots from the films.

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