ABS

  • Enterprise sale boosts Unique bonds

    Enterprise Inns has sold 15 pubs, located across the west and south east of England, for £23m to Fullers based on a multiple-to-net income of 13.5x. Given that the pubs appear to have been bought for their trading potential rather than as a real estate play, the move is expected to help improve pub valuations outside of London.

    Although Enterprise .......

    News Round-up 3 February 2012

  • Stable outlook for utility tariff bonds

    Fitch is maintaining a stable rating outlook for US utility tariff bonds in 2012, despite potential declines in consumption due to continued recessionary impacts. The agency says that to date Fitch-rated tariff bonds are performing within expectations. This is largely due to structural features inherent in utility tariff ABS transactions, like the true-up mechanism and sub-account withdrawals, which have been .......

    News Round-up 2 February 2012

  • Ibis Re closes upsized

    Assurant's Ibis Re II series 2012-1 (SCI 18 January 2012) US hurricane catastrophe bond has closed. The deal's class A notes were upsized to US$100m from an initial US$70m, while the class Bs came in as expected at US$30m.

    The class A notes priced at 835bp over Treasury money market funds and the class Bs at 1350bp over. S&P rated .......

    News Round-up 31 January 2012

  • Vitality III closes

    The third medical benefit claims ILS, Vitality Re III 2012-1 (SCI 13 January 2012), has closed. The two tranche deal finished as expected with US$105m of class A notes rated triple-B plus by S&P and US$45m of class B notes rated double-B plus.

    The class A notes priced at 420bp over Treasury money market funds. The class Bs came in .......

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Ex-Lloyds ceo joins advisory

    Eric Daniels has joined StormHarbour as a principal and senior advisor. Daniels retired from Lloyds Banking Group last year after seven years as ceo.

    Daniels will provide strategic advice and insight to StormHarbour's issuer and investor clients and to the firm's senior leadership team. He will be based in London.

    .......

    Job Swaps 26 January 2012

  • Credit card delinquencies hit new lows

    US credit card charge-offs declined by 34bp in December to 5.04%, according to Moody's latest credit card indices. Also during the month delinquencies fell to new record lows, pointing to further declines in charge-offs in the months ahead.

    Moody's expects the charge-off rate to continue to fall well into the coming year, eventually moving to below 4% by the end .......

    News Round-up 23 January 2012

  • Second Embarcadero Re marketing

    The latest catastrophe bond from the California Earthquake Authority's (CEA) Embarcadero Re programme is being marketed by Deutsche Bank. The series 2012-I deal is again a single-tranche offering targeting US$150m with a preliminary ratings from S&P of double-B minus.

    Embarcadero Re is based on CEA's ultimate net losses. CEA policies do not cover certain perils usually included in earthquake cat .......

    News Round-up 20 January 2012

  • Securitisation lawyer hired

    Deborah Festa has joined Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy as a partner in its Los Angeles office. She joins from O'Melveny & Myers, where she was also a partner.

    Festa's practice covers securitisations, complex domestic and off-shore financing arrangements in various asset classes, and cash flow, market value and synthetic CLO transactions. Prior to O'Melveny & Myers she served as an .......

    Job Swaps 20 January 2012

  • FFELP SLABS targeted

    Moody's has issued an RFC on a proposed update to the cashflow assumptions it uses when rating FFELP student loan securitisations. If implemented, the agency warns that it would expect to downgrade the ratings of approximately US$20bn of outstanding FFELP student-loan backed transactions - about 10% of the FFELP securities it rates.

    The key cashflow assumptions Moody's proposes updating are .......

    News Round-up 20 January 2012

  • Low loss rates predicted for auto ABS

    Losses fell for both prime and subprime US auto loan ABS last month. Fitch expects more of the same for the first half of 2012, based on its latest index results for the sector.

    Performance has been supported by two consecutive months of stronger used vehicle values and some positive economic data in the US. With these factors supporting asset .......

    News Round-up 20 January 2012

  • SEC fines UBS investment arm

    The US SEC has charged UBS Global Asset Management with failing to properly price securities in three mutual funds it managed, resulting in a misstatement to investors of the NAVs of those funds.

    The misconduct was discovered during an SEC investigation, triggered by a referral from SEC examiners. The investigation determined that during a two-week period the company did not .......

    Job Swaps 18 January 2012

  • CatVest launches ILS, ILW tools

    CatVest Petroleum Services has launched its EnergyRisk Model and Industry Loss Index. The firm's modelling services are specifically designed to assist with the transfer of risks to the capital markets through the use of financial instruments, such as ILS and ILWs.

    CatVest has devised a suite of modelling tools that it claims allows for accurate estimation, analyses, calculation and indexing .......

    News Round-up 18 January 2012

  • Assurant returns with latest Ibis Re deal

    Assurant is to sell a third issuance of notes from its Ibis Re II programme, having last tapped the market in April 2010. Ibis Re II 2012-1 will issue approximately US$70m of double-B minus rated class A three-year notes and US$30m of single-B minus class B three-year notes, covering US hurricane risk.

    The transaction has been structured by Aon Benfield .......

    News Round-up 18 January 2012

  • ABCP PWCE criteria changes proposed

    S&P has published a request for comment (RFC) on proposed changes to the methodologies and assumptions it uses to rate fully and partially credit-enhanced multiseller ABCP conduits. The RFC focuses specifically on proposed criteria for the minimum amount of programme-wide credit enhancement (PWCE) required to maintain an A-1+ or A-1 rating on commercial paper issued by multiseller ABCP conduits.

    If .......

    News Round-up 18 January 2012

  • Mixed outlook for aircraft ABS

    Fitch's outlook for aircraft ABS performance in 2012 remains mixed. While base-case expectations call for relatively stable aircraft values and lease rates, a eurozone debt crisis-driven recession could substantially affect that outlook. Downgrades on aircraft-related securitisations will likely surpass upgrades in 2012, particularly among older vintage transactions, the agency notes.

    Fitch expects that despite the upcoming delivery of newer technology .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2012

  • Zenkyoren returns

    A new Japanese quake catastrophe bond has begun marketing on behalf of Japan's National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren), whose Muteki Re cat bond suffered a 100% loss after last year's Tohoku earthquake.

    The Single tranche US$150m Kibou transaction is being arranged by GC Securities on behalf of risk counterparty Hannover Re and reinsurer Zenkyoren. The series 2012-1 .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2012

  • Loan defaults weigh on SME ABS

    Moody's expects deterioration in the credit quality of European banks to negatively affect new and existing SME ABS transactions, leading to a rise in loan defaults in 2012. The impact will be most acute in transactions without additional structural features or more credit enhancement to compensate for the reduced credit quality of counterparties.

    "Sovereign turmoil and banking sector stresses will .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2012

  • Vitality III marketing

    Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas are marketing the third Vitality Re medical benefit claims ILS. Vitality Re III 2012-1 is a two-tranche deal, comprising US$105m class A notes preliminarily rated triple-B plus by S&P and US$45m class B notes currently rated double-B plus.

    As with the previous Vitality Re transaction, S&P says the preliminary ratings are based on a model .......

    News Round-up 13 January 2012

  • Negative outlook for US ABCP

    Moody's credit outlook for US ABCP in 2012 is negative, although its outlook for the credit quality of assets funded by ABCP is neutral to improving. The volume of outstanding commercial paper will likely decline this year.

    "Our outlook for ABCP is negative primarily because of our negative outlook for the global banking sector," says Everett Rutan, a Moody's svp. .......

    News Round-up 12 January 2012

  • Law firm adds SF specialist

    Berwin Leighton Paisner has added a structured finance specialist to its banking and capital markets group. Prashanth Satyadeva joins from Clifford Chance, where he was a securitisation partner.

    Satyadeva advises banks, funds, corporates and others on securitisations and asset-backed finance structures across several sectors. He will report to Paul Severs, also formerly of Clifford Chance.

    .......

    Job Swaps 11 January 2012

  • Monoline replacement agreed

    Assured Guaranty (Europe) has replaced Ambac Assurance UK as financial guarantor and controlling creditor on Worcestershire Hospital SPC, a £97.2m UK Private Finance Initiative bond issue. The move is expected to enhance the creditworthiness of the bonds and was approved by 100% of the voting bondholders.

    The guarantees - for timely payment of scheduled principal and interest throughout the life .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2012
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