Complete news archive

  • Primary servicing volumes up

    In its latest quarterly US RMBS Servicer Handbook, Fitch highlights the rapid growth of portfolios among smaller mortgage servicing companies. The portfolios of US special servicers with loan counts of less than 400,000 are growing at a faster pace than the servicing industry as a whole, according to the agency.

    These smaller special servicers reported an average year-over-year growth of .......

    News Round-up 21 December 2016

  • CLO BWIC volume tallied

    JPMorgan figures as of 15 December suggest that US CLO BWIC volume is down by 25% in 2016 to US$26.99bn, while European volume decreased by 32% to €5.06bn. In contrast, CLO BWIC volumes rose by 50% in the US and 6% in Europe last year.

    In the US, the first and second halves of 2016 saw almost identical CLO BWIC .......

    News 20 December 2016

  • Capturing the liquidity premium

    Interest rate rises could increase volatility in the structured credit market, creating opportunities for relative value plays. Against this backdrop, junior CLO debt is seen as particularly attractive.

    The spread premium associated with structured credit products remains compelling and is exacerbated by low interest rates, according to Ahrash Daneshvar, md at ZAIS Group. "In a low rate world, it's obvious .......

    News 20 December 2016

  • Strong due diligence in place

    With the exception of a few isolated outliers, strong due diligence is firmly in place for most post-crisis US RMBS, according to Fitch in its inaugural report on third-party review (TPR) firms that perform RMBS due diligence. The agency's review - which encompassed over 100,000 loans from across 92 securitised deals - demonstrated exceptional results so far for loans originated .......

    News Round-up 20 December 2016

  • Structured credit pro poached

    Intermediate Capital Group has appointed Brian Marshall as md of business and product development for its US capital markets business. In this role, he will interact extensively with ICG's global distribution team, with responsibility for capital formation, developing and managing investor relationships, and contributing to the development of new products.

    Marshall has over 18 years of experience in credit and .......

    Job Swaps 20 December 2016

  • MPL ABS 'compares well' in 2016

    Despite significant turbulence earlier in the year, marketplace lending ABS has maintained steady growth and better or similar performance than other areas of the consumer loan ABS sector, according to JPMorgan ABS analysts. They add that the marketplace lending ABS sector has also been one of the fastest growing in ABS, starting with US$3.3bn in 2013 from three programmes to .......

    News 20 December 2016

  • Mixed blessing

    Retention rules not so onerous for CRE CLOs

    Risk retention requirements raise interesting issues for the CRE CLO sector. The typical CRE CLO model already includes holding the bottom of the capital stack, but the way in which that is done may well fall foul of the regulators' rulebook.

    The fact that CRE CLO sponsors frequently retain 10% or more of the bottom of the capital stack should .......

    News Analysis 20 December 2016

  • Lower credit MPL deal prepped

    SoFi is readying its thirteenth rated student loan securitisation, which is expected to be sold in a privately negotiated transaction. The US$130.66m ABS, dubbed SoFi Professional Loan Program 2016-F, is backed by refinanced student loans originated through its online platform and is unusual in that a substantial proportion of the loans have lower credit scores than its previous transactions.

    Moody's .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2016

  • CCP equivalence determined

    The European Commission has determined that India, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan Commodities, United Arab Emirates and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have equivalent regulatory regimes for central counterparties to the European Union. The Commission has also determined that the rules governing certain financial markets in Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore can be deemed equivalent to those in the EU, thereby .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2016

  • Contingent capital arranged

    SCOR has launched its third contingent capital facility in the form of a three-year contingent equity line. The facility provides the group with €300m coverage in case of extreme natural catastrophe or life events impacting mortality, which it says will enable it to protect its solvency.

    The equity line facility is provided by BNP Paribas and will replace the current .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2016

  • Insurance merger agreed

    Fairfax Financial Holdings and Allied World Assurance Company Holdings have entered into a merger agreement, pursuant to which Fairfax will acquire all of the outstanding registered ordinary shares of Allied World. Based on Friday's closing stock price for Fairfax of C$614.45, Allied World shareholders will receive a combination of Fairfax subordinate voting shares and cash equal to US$54 per Allied .......

    Job Swaps 19 December 2016

  • SCI Start the Week - 19 December

    A look at the major activity in structured finance over the past seven days.

    Pipeline
    While the pace of pipeline additions has slowed over the last couple of weeks, new deals do continue to be announced. Last week's ABS additions were US$250.8m Merlin Aviation and US$178m Westchester Tobacco Asset Securitization Corp Series 2016A, 2016B, 2016C.

    US$500m Galilei Re series 2016-1 and US$500m Galilei Re series 2017-1 were the two ILS. There were also .......

    News 19 December 2016

  • Proving compliance

    Demonstrating significant risk transfer discussed

    How to demonstrate significant risk transfer (SRT) was a hot topic at SCI's Capital Relief Trades Seminar last month. Panellists discussed the importance of having robust governance and risk management processes in place, as well as what to avoid when preparing to execute a capital relief transaction.

    Articles 243 and 244 - which correspond to traditional (cash) and synthetic securitisations .......

    Talking Point 19 December 2016

  • ABCP performance to remain strong

    European ABCP conduit performance is expected to remain strong next year, reflecting the sound credit quality of the vehicles' sponsors and liquidity providers, Moody's says. Meanwhile, Fitch expects demand for US ABCP issuance to continue to be stable, despite regulatory changes related to money fund reforms and risk retention.

    "In 2016, the last partially supported European conduit was converted to .......

    News Round-up 16 December 2016

  • FHFA scorecard goals published

    The FHFA has released its 2017 scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Common Securitization Solutions (CSS). The scorecard furthers the FHFA's aims of maintain credit availability, reducing taxpayer risk and building a new single-family securitisation infrastructure for the GSEs.

    For the Common Securitization Platform (CSP) and Single Security, which remain high priorities, the FHFA expects the GSEs and CSS .......

    News Round-up 16 December 2016

  • Derivatives secretary appointed

    ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) is set to assume the secretarial role on ISDA's credit derivatives determinations committees (DCs). IBA was chosen following a seven-month selection process that began with a public invitation to tender in May.

    As DC secretary, IBA will be responsible for administrative duties, such as passing questions submitted by eligible market participants to the relevant DCs, coordinating .......

    News Round-up 16 December 2016

  • Freddie debuts re-performing deal

    Freddie Mac is marketing its first credit risk transfer RMBS backed by seasoned re-performing loans - the US$943.52m Freddie Mac Seasoned Credit Risk Transfer Trust 2016-1. The collateral - comprising 4,097 loans - was either purchased by Freddie Mac from securitised Freddie Mac Participation Certificates or retained by the GSE in whole loan form.

    The portfolio contains 100% modified loans. .......

    News Round-up 16 December 2016

  • Non-QM market 'maturing'

    Caliber Home Loans has closed the US$225.75m COLT 2016-3 Mortgage Loan Trust, the first post-crisis non-QM RMBS to feature a triple-A rated tranche. The transaction is backed by 474 fixed- and adjustable-rate prime and non-prime first-lien residential mortgages.

    Fitch notes that it has become more comfortable with the operational risk of the issuer through extensive due diligence results, multiple on-site .......

    News Round-up 16 December 2016

  • Comfort zone

    Investor interest in SFR muted, despite potential

    A backdrop of declining homeownership in the US and a growing number of renters is driving growth in the single-family rental (SFR) securitisation market. However, limited volume, call risk and operational issues mean that the sector can be overlooked by investors, who remain more comfortable with RMBS and CMBS.

    Earlier in the year Morgan Stanley RMBS analysts highlighted that the .......

    News Analysis 16 December 2016

  • CRE group continues expansion

    Colliers International Group (CIG) and Colliers Parrish International (CPI) have signed a merger agreement. CPI is the largest independently owned Colliers affiliate in the US, providing investment sales, lease brokerage, capital markets, valuation and advisory and also property management services.

    "Integrating CPI with our existing operations in Northern California significantly increases our scale and coverage, allowing us to seamlessly and .......

    Job Swaps 16 December 2016

  • Coupon clippers

    Euro CLO refi activity to accelerate

    Refinancing activity is expected to accelerate in Europe in the coming year as the cost of funding encourages more CLO managers to employ the option. Anticipating the impending refinancing wave is deemed significant from both a market value and portfolio management perspective.

    "Most European CLO 2.0 deals include provisions for refinancing within the documentation," says Angus Duncan, partner at Cadwalader, .......

    News Analysis 16 December 2016
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