A complex structured financial product backed by a pool of loans and other assets, divided into tranches with different risk levels and returns. Senior tranches receive payment priority while junior tranches bear first losses.
From Medieval Latin 'collateralis' (side by side), Latin 'debitum' (debt), and 'obligatio' (binding). CDOs evolved from mortgage-backed securities in the 1980s as Wall Street created increasingly complex ways to repackage debt.
CDOs are like financial Russian nesting dolls - securities made from other securities, sometimes made from other securities! The 2008 crisis revealed their danger when 'synthetic CDOs' were created from credit default swaps on other CDOs, creating a house of cards that amplified losses throughout the global financial system.
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