Complete news archive

  • Specially serviced loans surge

    In their latest update on CMBS remittances, securitisation analysts at Barclays Capital note that what was "particularly troubling" for February was the surge in specially serviced current loans. By current balance, more than US$3.3bn of current loans transitioned to their respective special servicer during the month.

    "As we have repeatedly stressed, specially serviced current loans are a strong leading indicator .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Catastrophe fund sees US$340m inflow

    Nephila Capital has attracted inflows of US$340m from 11 UK institutions into its catastrophe reinsurance fund in the second half of 2009. The latest inflows bring the ILS specialist's total assets under management to US$$2.6bn.

    Paul Dackombe, head of UK institutional sales at Man Group, which has a 25% stake in Nephila, believes that insurance-linked securities are gaining broader acceptance .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Small payout for Lehman CLO

    The receivers of a balance sheet CLO issued by Lehman Brothers in August 2008 - Clio European CLO - intend to make an interim distribution of approximately €193.57m to its most senior investors this week.

    The €700m (approximately) transaction, which is understood to have repoed the single-A rated class A1 and A2 notes with the ECB under its previous minimum .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Velocity of RE deals to improve

    The velocity of real estate transactions is expected to improve in 2010, according to FTI Schonbraun McCann Group, as property pricing stabilises. Debt maturities are likely to force action upon sellers and a return of liquidity to the capital markets is likely to spur buyers, providing the catalysts for greater transaction volume.

    "Despite weak fundamentals, I believe the real estate .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Structured products boutiques combine

    ICP Capital is to transfer its domestic and international capital markets businesses to PrinceRidge Holdings to create an international investment banking boutique serving investors and issuers in the institutional fixed income markets. The combined firms will operate under the PrinceRidge Holdings name.

    ICP Capital, established in 2004, is a 60-person structured products boutique with offices in New York, Chicago, Los .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Developed economy sovereign CDS improve

    Fitch Solutions says the announcement of Greece's revised austerity package on 3 March has helped to ease CDS market concerns on the prospects for developed market sovereigns over the past two weeks. Its developed market sovereign CDS liquidity index fell from 8.39 to 8.55 during the period 23 February to 5 March. Sovereign spreads improved over the past week, with .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Illiquid asset advisory formed

    Stifel, Nicolaus & Company has expanded its capital markets platform through the creation of Stifel Capital Advisors (SCA).

    SCA will be led by Stephan Kuppenheimer and will include 15 other professionals joining Stifel from FSI Capital. Kuppenheimer's leadership experience in the space includes serving as ceo of FSI Capital, as well as director and co-head of the US structured credit .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Collateral management recommendations made

    ISDA has published its 'Independent Amount Whitepaper' and 'Market Review of OTC Bilateral Collateralization Practices'. Both documents have been developed by the ISDA Collateral Steering Committee under the auspices of the ISDA Industry Governance Committee.

    "Collateralisation has become a key method of mitigating counterparty credit risk in the derivative markets," says Julian Day, head of trading infrastructure, ISDA. "ISDA and .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • New head of credit alternatives hired

    The Carlyle Group has recruited Michael (Mitch) Petrick as md to fill the newly-created role of global head of credit alternatives and capital markets. He will also become a member of the firm's operating committee.

    Petrick was at Morgan Stanley for 20 years, most recently as md and global head of institutional sales and trading, and was responsible for a .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Senate urged to reconsider student loan act

    The ASF has submitted a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs regarding S. 1541, the Private Student Loan Debt Swap Act. The letter expresses the strong concerns of ASF members regarding the unintended negative consequences of this legislation.

    The Private Student Loan Debt Swap Act .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Coordinated reform 'at risk of fragmentation'

    The Institute of International Finance (IIF)'s Market Monitoring Group (MMG) has issued a statement on potential systemic risks, following its regular quarterly meeting. It says this is in keeping with its mandate to advise market participants and policymakers of emerging vulnerabilities in the global financial system.

    IIF md Charles Dallara explains: "The MMG believes it appropriate at this time to .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Loan/CLO disconnect doubles

    A softening in double-A to double-B CLO spreads throughout February alongside relative stability in leveraged loans has led to a doubling of the leveraged loan premium or 'disconnect' to CLOs, according to structured credit analysts at JPMorgan. At six to seven points, this disconnect is at the upper end of its trailing range for the last few months and the .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Fund to invest over US$30m in PPIP

    Following the successful February offering of the Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund, the fund has committed to invest US$33m in a public-private investment partnership (PPIP). The fund's investment objective is to generate attractive total returns through opportunistic investments in MBS.

    The fund notes in its prospectus its intention to invest in MBS directly and indirectly through a separate investment in .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Succession events pending

    Two succession event determinations are outstanding. First, BNP Paribas has requested that the ISDA EMEA Determinations Committee determine whether a succession event has occurred on Nordic Telephone Company Holding. The request is in connection with the merger of Nordic Telephone Company Holding ApS (NTCH), Nordic Telephone Company Finance ApS, Nordic Telephone Company Investment ApS and Nordic Telephone Company Administration ApS .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • US ABS research head named

    Deutsche Bank has hired Steve Abrahams as an md and head of securitisation and MBS research within its global markets division. He is based in New York and reports to Marcel Cassard, md and global head of macro and fixed income research.

    Abrahams joins Deutsche Bank with almost 20 years of securitisation research and portfolio management experience and was most .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • US outperforms Europe in CLO equity returns

    Citi has published a new report on the performance of CLO equity returns in order to analyse both past returns and current valuations. In the analysis, structured credit strategists explore the historical returns of 529 US CLOs and 181 European CLO transactions spanning across 132 and 55 managers respectively.

    In the report the Citi strategists find that average quarterly cash-on-cash .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • CRE CDO management duties transferred

    The management duties of several CRE CDOs are to be transferred from Centerline REIT to Centerline Servicing Inc (CSI). This follows the recapitalisation of Centerline Holding Co (CHC) by Island Capital Group.

    After the recapitalisation of CHC by Island, CSI will be a wholly owned subsidiary of C-III Capital Partners, a newly-formed entity controlled by Island. Although the ownership structure .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Dutch structured finance practice launched

    Linklaters is launching a structured finance practice in Amsterdam to be headed by newly-arrived Kees Westermann. The practice will function within the firm's global structured finance network, advising on a wide range of transactions.

    Westermann joins Linklaters on 1 April 2010 from Clifford Chance, where he was a partner specialising in structured finance, including securitisations and covered bonds. The firm .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Three Jefferies staff transfer to Babson

    Babson Capital Management has confirmed its role as replacement manager on five Jefferies Capital Management CLOs - Victoria Falls CLO, Diamond Lake CLO, Clear Lake CLO, Summit Lake CLO and St. James River CLO (SCI issue 156 and manager consolidation database).

    As part of the transaction, three Jefferies Capital Management employees directly involved with the five .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Sovereign CDS backlash reaches new heights

    The political backlash against sovereign CDS reached new heights this week, as German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Financial Stability Board head Mario Draghi and EC president José Manuel Barroso all called for a ban on speculative 'naked' sales of sovereign CDS. The move comes despite German regulator Bafin finding no evidence that CDS were used to speculate .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • SBA pro added as Counsel

    Bingham McCutchen has added Martin Teckler to its structured transactions practice group as a Washington-based Of Counsel, continuing the momentum and strategic growth of this group after its August combination with McKee Nelson.

    Bingham describes Teckler, who joins from K&L Gates in Washington, as "one of the leading authorities" on Small Business Administration and other federal programmes that provide capital .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010
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