ABS

  • Virgin handset deal closed

    Royal Bank of Canada has arranged a £125m mobile handset securitisation programme for Virgin Media Mobile, the first of its kind in Europe. The underlying receivables consist of loans provided by Virgin Media Mobile to its customers in order to finance the purchase of handsets from Virgin Mobile Telecoms.

    Allen & Overy advised RBC as arranger on the transaction, with .......

    News Round-up 17 November 2016

  • Euro tranche debuts

    FirstRand Bank is in the market with its latest UK auto ABS, Turbo Finance 7. The deal, which is provisionally sized at £405m, includes a euro-denominated tranche - a first for the programme.

    Provisionally rated by Moody's and S&P, the transaction comprises: Aaa/AAA rated 1.7-year class A1 and class A2 (euro-denominated) notes; A2/A 3.6-year class Bs; Baa3/A- class Cs; and .......

    News Round-up 17 November 2016

  • Euro ABS/MBS unchanged

    There's been little movement in the European ABS/MBS secondary market this week, so far.

    While sentiment continues to be positive, volumes have remained low this week as most investors appear content to sit on the sidelines for now. What activity there has been has revolved around prime assets and Street trading. Consequently, ABS/MBS secondary spreads across the board have remained .......

    SCIWire 17 November 2016

  • CRT line-up finalised

    Panellists are being finalised for SCI's latest Capital Relief Trades Seminar, which is being held on 22 November in London. The event will be hosted by Reed Smith at its offices at 20 Primrose Street, EC2A 2RS.

    As securitisation shifts from being used as a funding tool to a balance sheet and credit risk management tool, balance sheet relief trades .......

    News Round-up 17 November 2016

  • Auto ABS restructured

    Italian auto loan ABS A-Best 14 - which closed on 11 May (see SCI's new issuance database) - has been restructured. The amendments include the retranching of the principal amount of all classes of notes, increasing the total issuance volume and portfolio size, and changing the fixed interest rates of the class B, C and D notes. The .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2016

  • Reinsurance pro brought in

    TigerRisk Partners has appointed reinsurance industry veteran Patrick Denzer as partner, with a particular focus on client management and strategic development. He was most recently Americas chairman at Guy Carpenter and has also served as ceo of John B Collins Associates, where he began his career with a focus on property catastrophe reinsurance and was involved in the development of .......

    Job Swaps 15 November 2016

  • Cali tax vote 'ABS negative'

    The passing of California's Proposition 56 - which will increase the state's tobacco tax rate from 87 cents to US$2.87 on a packet of cigarettes - is credit negative for tobacco settlement bonds, says Moody's. The tax increase goes into effect in April 2017.

    Moody's notes that national cigarette consumption declined 9.2% in the year following the federal excise tax increase from 39 .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2016

  • UK inflation to affect ABS, RMBS

    Brexit-driven inflation in the UK will be credit negative for securitisations backed by mortgages, auto loans and other consumer debt, primarily through an increase in defaults among low income borrowers, warns Moody's. These borrowers will be less able to absorb the higher costs resulting from the decision to leave the EU.

    The rating agency notes that the UK is reliant .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2016

  • Green bond tool readied

    S&P has published an updated outline of its green bond evaluation framework, following the conclusion of a consultation period on the proposal. Following further testing and calibration of the framework, the agency anticipates launching green bond evaluations in 1Q17.

    S&P's green bond evaluation tool would provide a second opinion under the Green Bond Principles and a relative green impact score .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2016

  • Overcollateralisation errors identified

    Moody's has affirmed the ratings of six tranches from two student loan ABS sponsored by Darien Rowayton Bank (DRB). The action follows the identification of a deficiency in the initial overcollateralisation amount of certain classes of notes and an error in the trustee reports regarding the calculation of overcollateralisation target amounts.

    The effected tranches are the class A1, A2 and .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2016

  • Euro secondary softens

    Declines in the bond market have begun to feed into the European securitisation secondary market.

    While sentiment continues to be generally positive across secondary, investor interest appears to have thinned since the end of last week with the spike in rate volatility. At the same time, some softness is appearing in spreads in certain sectors.

    Peripheral and UK RMBS are .......

    SCIWire 15 November 2016

  • FFELP criteria revised

    Fitch has revised its criteria for rating US FFELP student loan ABS. The changes aren't expected to have any impact on outstanding ratings, however.

    The revisions clarify how short-term assets - such as claims filed, pending interest subsidy payment and special allowance payments - are treated, as well as partial credit for sponsor's actions, prepayment calculations and reinvestment rates. They .......

    News Round-up 11 November 2016

  • 'Carriers benefit' from cellular ABS

    The securitisation of the payments of cellular equipment instalment plans (EIPs) helps diversify cell phone carriers' financing, provides liquidity and can lower carriers' overall financing costs, Fitch comments. The agency adds that EIPs also help to bring transparency to consumers in terms of device cost rather than carriers heavily subsidising it.

    The agency adds that handset financing is a financial .......

    News Round-up 11 November 2016

  • Innovative aircraft ABS well-received

    The US$800m Blackbird Capital Aircraft Lease Securitization 2016-1 priced last week, with the senior notes heavily oversubscribed. The deal is noteworthy for featuring a super-senior tranche and a higher percentage of wide-body aircraft than most aircraft ABS.

    Rated by KBRA and S&P, the transaction comprises: US$200m AA/AA rated class AA notes (which priced at a 2.50% yield for a 4.2-year .......

    News 11 November 2016

  • More downgrades for UK SLABS

    Fitch has downgraded Honours' class B, C and D notes and maintains a rating watch negative on these and the A notes. The transaction is a refinancing of the previous Honours deal which closed in 1999, securitising student loans originated in the UK by the Student Loans Company.

    Moody's recently downgraded Honours tranches and also maintained reviews for downgrade (SCI .......

    News Round-up 11 November 2016

  • Transfer pricing

    Italian ABS hindered by NPL valuation issues

    The securitisation of non-performing loans (NPLs) has been deemed a credible solution for Italian banks seeking to offload the assets from their balance sheets. Just one deal has launched to date, however. Getting a plausible valuation for the NPL portfolio being transferred to the SPV may be one of the main obstacles.

    Francesco Franzese, founder and md of Aram Capital, .......

    News Analysis 11 November 2016

  • ILS firm swipes compliance vet

    Markel CATCo has hired John Whiley as chief compliance officer. He previously worked as vp and head of ILS at Prime Management, a division of SS&C GlobeOp.

    Whiley was at Prime Management, an independent service provider in the ILS industry, for 14 years. He then stayed with the firm after it was acquired by SS&C.

    .......

    Job Swaps 10 November 2016

  • APRA issues regulation responses

    The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has responded to submissions to its November 2015 discussion paper on revising its prudential framework for securitisation (SCI 26 November 2015). It has also issued a final revised Prudential Standard APS 120 and is consulting on its draft revised Prudential Practice Guide APG 120.

    APRA has been working to update its regulatory framework to incorporate .......

    News Round-up 10 November 2016

  • Reporting conventions compared

    Moody's has published a study examining how auto ABS performance is reported the UK, German, Chinese and Australian markets. The agency notes that while central banks play a significant role in driving disclosure harmonisation in each of these markets with their specific reporting requirements, local peculiarities remain.

    "There are many commonalities characterising ABS transactions across these four jurisdictions, yet performance .......

    News Round-up 10 November 2016

  • KKR targets shipping loans

    Pillarstone, the platform set up by KKR to buy non-core and underperforming assets in Europe, seems set to take on underperforming shipping loans following the recruitment of former Frontline Management ceo Jens Martin Jensen. Indeed, the firm recently confirmed its involvement in a shipping-related securitisation.

    Underperforming loans in the shipping sector have skyrocketed since 2008, as shipping operators have been .......

    News 10 November 2016

  • Euro secondary stable

    The European securitisation secondary market remains stable despite wider market volatility.

    The continuation of the buying bias and positive tone seen in secondary ABS/MBS in recent weeks ensured all sectors remained insulated from the big moves seen in equities and broader credit yesterday. Consequently, spreads were unchanged on the day and have stayed the same into this morning's open.

    Inevitably .......

    SCIWire 10 November 2016
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