Bootstrapping the hazard rates from CDS spreads
October 5th, 2022
Consider a Credit Default Swap with maturity 2 years, paying a premium with semi-annual frequency. Assume that defaults can occur only at times 0.25 years, 0.75 years, 1.25 years and 1.75 years. The CDS spread is 150 basis points. Assume that the risk-free interest rate is 0.5% and the recovery rate is 30%. What is the hazard rate of the reference name? Assume a constant hazard rate for the entire maturity of the CDS.