Complete news archive

  • 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

  • Positioning trades suggested ahead of index rolls

    The Markit iTraxx and CDX indices, which are set to roll on 22 March (CDX.HY on 29 March), have begun the roll process. The move has prompted speculation about possible positioning trades ahead of the roll.

    Structured credit strategists at Barclays Capital suggest that the CDS index rolls should take on added importance, given the notable re-pricing in single name CDS curves relative to .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Derivatives valuation provider acquired

    Tullett Prebon has acquired OTC Valuations, a provider of independent derivatives valuation services.

    OTC Valuations focuses on the valuation of illiquid, hard-to-value OTC securities and exotic structured products. It also provides vanilla instrument valuation services and comprehensive coverage across the spectrum of instruments traded in the global OTC markets, including fixed income, interest rates, credit, FX, equity, hybrids and structured .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • CDO EOD volume expected to moderate

    Mezzanine and subordinated tranches are now representing a much larger percentage of total CDO BWIC activity when measured by notional amounts, thanks to a number of large liquidations over the past month. However, such heavy mezz volume is expected to slow as new CDO events of default (EODs) moderate and existing obstacles to liquidations remain in place.

    To date, roughly .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Credit research team strengthened

    Aviva Investors has appointed Jiten Joshi as head of knowledge services to lead a new six-person team of analysts to support its London-based credit team. The new capability, which is based in Mumbai, India, will be responsible for supporting and enhancing the London team's fundamental credit research capabilities both in investment grade and high yield, as well as providing technical .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Trading ideas: advanced decay

    Byron Douglass, senior research analyst at Credit Derivative...

    Even though AMD experienced a recent upswing in good news with the US$1.25bn settlement from Intel and consensus beating fourth-quarter results, the implied volatility market zealousness is considerably overdone. Analysing the inherent risk of AMD from a credit perspective, both our technical and fundamental indicators point to a strong upswing in AMD's implied volatility. We recommend buying longer-dated downside puts .......

    Research Notes 10 March 2010

  • NewOak hires cfo

    NewOak Capital has hired Paul Valenti as cfo. He joins NewOak from Open Link Financial, where he was also cfo, having previously held a similar position at Capital Group Partners.

    .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Investor relations md hired

    BlueMountain Capital Management has expanded its investor relations and marketing team with the hire of Jennifer Strickland as md. Strickland will help shape the firm's marketing strategy to promote its integrated investment style and tailored product offerings. In addition, Josh Drazen has been promoted to md of investor relations and strategy.

    Prior to joining BlueMountain, Strickland was director of investor .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • Back-to-basics underwriting 'key' to performance

    A new study claims that risk retention provisions for home mortgages in the House Financial Reform bill and the draft Senate bill are no substitute for good underwriting, strong documentation standards and safe product design. The study was conducted by independent valuation and advisory firm Vertical Capitol Solutions for Genworth Financial, in collaboration with the Community Mortgage Banking Project (CMBP).

    News 10 March 2010

  • RMBS due diligence contractor certified

    S&P has added RR Donnelley & Sons' global real estate services offering to its list of certified third-party due diligence contractors for RMBS.

    Keith Gettmann, md of RR Donnelley's global real estate services, says: "This is an important validation that our firm is providing the quality services our clients and the industry require."

    S&P designed this certification programme, which was .......

    Job Swaps 10 March 2010

  • CRD IV could 'hinder' the return of securitisation

    The European Commission has launched a public consultation on further possible changes to the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD), which it says is aimed at strengthening the resilience of the banking sector and the financial system as a whole. However, there is concern that a number of the proposals could hinder the return of securitisation as a capital relief and risk .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • Trades mooted for declining correlation regime

    As global economies recover and markets re-risk, credit derivatives strategists at Morgan Stanley expect correlation to continue to fall from the elevated levels observed over the summer of 2009. "The long default correlation trade expressed with long 0%-3% positions and short senior risk positions was very successful during the crisis. However, as spreads compress and credit spreads on tail names .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • FDIC resecuritisation bodes well for more deals

    The FDIC's US$1.8bn Structured Sale Guaranteed Notes Series I (SSGN 2010-S1) priced considerably tight on 5 March. Similar to a re-REMIC, the Barclays-led deal consists of securitised private label mortgage bond obligations that the FDIC acquired from failed banks.

    The US$1.33bn floating rate tranche priced at 55bp over one-month Libor - tighter than guidance in the area of 65bp. The US$480.1m .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • Lifeline for distressed banks

    Vanquish Capital Group has developed a programme designed to help distressed banks and insurance companies demonstrate that they're utilising their deferred tax benefits. Conceptually, the solution is based on these institutions investing in a pool of assets managed by Vanquish. Although the majority of the assets in this case are student loan ABS residuals, the structure isn't limited to any .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • Dealers nix cancelability in LCDS docs

    Both tranche and index dealers have agreed to remove the cancelability or prepayment option for components of the North American leveraged loan index, LCDX. The move leaves the index, which is set to roll to series 14 on 5 April, trading more like a bullet structure similar to other CDS indices.

    "It's an important move forward for the market for .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • Final TALF offerings squeezed in

    Premium Financing Specialists on 4 March priced its insurance premium receivables TALF-eligible offering after being talked in the market for weeks. Off-the-run issuers like Premium Financing Specialists have been lining up offerings ahead of this month's TALF ABS subscription deadline, which marks the last round of deals under the programme that is set to expire on 31 March.

    The US$1.2bn .......

    News 10 March 2010

  • Primary flurry

    New European ABS deals brought to market

    The primary European ABS market has seen a flurry of activity over the past week. The pricing of Santander's UK RMBS Fosse 2010-1 on 5 March was swiftly followed by announcements by VW Bank of a new auto ABS and by NIBC of a Dutch MBS XV transaction.

    Fosse 2010-1, the first UK RMBS to be issued since 2007 without .......

    News Analysis 10 March 2010

  • New cat bond begins marketing

    Swiss Re has begun marketing the second series of notes under its Successor X catastrophe bond programme. The new notes will be exposed to both major North Atlantic hurricane risk in selected states within the US and Puerto Rico, and major European windstorm risk in selected countries in Northern and Western Europe between March 2010 and March 2013.

    S&P has .......

    News Round-up 10 March 2010

  • Uncertain future

    New Basel 2 rules to thwart CSO return?

    FTDs, TRS, index tranches and leveraged baskets of names without tranching are all seeing renewed interest from the investor community. However, the jury is still out as to whether CSOs will make a meaningful return in 2010 - particularly given the threat of punitive treatment of such securities under new Basel 2 rules.

    Michael Hampden-Turner, structured credit strategist at Citi, .......

    News Analysis 10 March 2010

  • Paying up for quality

    US CLO spreads generally held firm during the week ending 26 February in the face of continued volatility in European markets resulting the latest Greece bailout moves. However, investor concern regarding the potential impact on the US markets has resulted in lower volumes for mezzanine notes.

    The US CLO market as a whole has maintained decent volume and spread levels .......

    News 3 March 2010

  • Primary focus

    European ABS market activity in the week to 2 March

    The European ABS market has remained quiet over the past week as investors continue to play a waiting game. Market participants are watching both the wider credit markets and developments outside of the market, while speculation over the new Fosse deal continues.

    One trader points out that half-term holidays in both London and Paris help to explain the lack of .......

    News Analysis 3 March 2010
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