Since around the turn of the millennium there has been a general acceptance that one of the more practical improvements one may make in the light of the shortfalls of the classical Black-Scholes model is to replace the underlying source of randomness, a Brownian motion, by a Levy process. Working with Levy processes allows one to capture desirable distributional characteristics in the stock returns. In addition, recent work on Levy processes has led to the understanding of many probabilistic and analytical properties, which make the processes attractive as mathematical tools. At the same time, exotic derivatives are gaining increasing importance as financial instruments and are traded nowadays in large quantities in OTC markets. The current volume is a compendium of chapters, each of which consists of discursive review and recent research on the topic of exotic option pricing and advanced Levy markets, written by leading scientists in this field.

"In recent years, Levy processes have leapt to the fore as a tractable mechanism for modeling asset returns. Exotic option values are especially sensitive to an accurate portrayal of these dynamics. This comprehensive volume provides a valuable service for financial researchers everywhere by assembling key contributions from the world's leading researchers in the field."
-- Peter Carr, Head of Quantitative Finance, Bloomberg LP

"This book provides a front-row seat to the hottest new field in modern finance: options pricing in turbulent markets. The old models have failed, as many a professional investor can sadly attest. So many of the brightest minds in mathematical finance across the globe are now in search of new, more accuratemodels. Here, in one volume, is a comprehensive selection of this cutting-edge research."
--Richard L. Hudson, former Managing Editor of "The Wall Street Journal Europe," and co-author with Benoit B. Mandelbrot of "The (Mis)Behaviour of Markets: A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin and Reward"

Financial mathematics has recently enjoyed considerable interest on account of its impact on the finance industry. In parallel, the theory of Lévy processes has also seen many exciting developments. These powerful modelling tools allow the user to model more complex phenomena, and are commonly applied to problems in finance. Lévy Processes in Finance: Pricing Financial Derivatives takes a practical approach to describing the theory of Lévy-based models, and features many examples of how they may be used to solve problems in finance.

• Provides an introduction to the use of Lévy processes in finance.

• Features many examples using real market data, with emphasis on the pricing of financial derivatives.

• Covers a number of key topics, including option pricing, Monte Carlo simulations, stochastic volatility, exotic options and interest rate modelling.

• Includes many figures to illustrate the theory and examples discussed.

• Avoids unnecessary mathematical formalities.

This book is an introductory guide to using Levy processes for credit risk modelling. It covers all types of credit derivatives: from the single name vanillas such as Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) right through to structured credit risk products such as Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurances (CPPIs) and Constant Proportion Debt Obligations (CPDOs) as well as new advanced rating models for Asset Backed Securities (ABSs). Jumps and extreme events are crucial stylized features, essential in the modelling of the very volatile credit markets - the recent turmoil in the credit markets has once again illustrated the need for more refined models. Readers will learn how the classical models (driven by Brownian motions and Black-Scholes settings) can be significantly improved by using the more flexible class of Levy processes. By doing this, extreme event and jumps can be introduced into the models to give more reliable pricing and a better assessment of the risks. The book brings in high-tech financial engineering models for the detailed modelling of credit risk instruments, setting up the theoretical framework behind the application of Levy Processes to Credit Risk Modelling before moving on to the practical implementation. Complex credit derivatives structures such as CDOs, ABSs, CPPIs, CPDOs are analysed and illustrated with market data.