Complete news archive

  • APAC ratings affirmed

    Fitch has affirmed the long-term ratings on 161 publicly-rated Asia-Pacific structured finance (SF) and structured credit (SC) tranches in 3Q16. The agency has also upgraded six bonds, placed one on rating watch negative and downgraded another.

    Four of the upgrades were to Australian SF transactions, resulting from better-than-expected performance in terms of losses, credit enhancement (CE) build-up and the availability .......

    News Round-up 25 October 2016

  • CMBS conduit loan credit quality up

    The credit quality of conduit loans backing US CMBS deals improved in 3Q16, notes Moody's. Conduit loan leverage dipped around 1%, while the share of collateral pools made up of loans credit assessed as investment grade doubled to 13%.

    "Leverage for the conduit portion of loan pools dipped about 1% in the third quarter, while the share of investment-grade quality .......

    News Round-up 25 October 2016

  • Replacement chairman named

    RAIT Financial Trust has separated its offices of chairman and ceo, which were previously both held by Scott Schaeffer. The REIT's board has elected Michael Malter to succeed Schaeffer as chairman.

    Malter joined the board in November 2015 and currently serves on the risk management committee and the compensation committee. He also chairs the special committee that was responsible for .......

    Job Swaps 25 October 2016

  • New CIRT structure trialled

    Fannie Mae has secured commitments for a new front-end credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) structure to be executed with affiliates of approved mortgage insurance companies. The FHFA sought feedback on front-end credit risk transfer transactions over the summer (SCI 30 June).

    The pilot deal - CIRT FE 2016-1 - will be the first CIRT transaction done on a flow basis, .......

    News Round-up 25 October 2016

  • ILS analytics firm acquired

    Verisk Analytics has acquired Analyze Re. The software analytics provider will become part of AIR Worldwide, expanding AIR's analytical solutions beyond catastrophe modelling to advanced real-time decision making.

    Analyze Re is a specialist provider of tools and services to the insurance, reinsurance and ILS industries. Its acquisition will enable AIR to provide clients with additional real-time pricing, exposure management and .......

    Job Swaps 25 October 2016

  • Tikehau takes over senior debt funds

    Tikehau Capital has reached an agreement with Lyxor UK to manage the investments of Lyxor's European senior debt funds. The deal will allow Tikehau to expand its leveraged loans and CLO business from €1.9bn AUM to €2.6bn.

    Tikehau will replace Lyxor as investment manager of Lyxor's four European senior debt funds, while Lyxor's European senior debt operational team will join .......

    Job Swaps 25 October 2016

  • Euro secondary starts slow

    It was a slow start to the week in the European securitisation secondary market, but a large CDO liquidation should generate some interest today.

    Yesterday was quiet across the board thanks to an element of supply fatigue as the well-established pattern of primary focus linked to flurries of BWICs continued into the end of last week and was met with .......

    SCIWire 25 October 2016

  • Bail-in priced in?

    European bank CDS put to the test

    Mounting concerns over Deutsche Bank's financial health, along with bail-in speculation have coincided with significant widening in the bank's CDS - both at a senior and subordinated level. However, whether financial CDS prices are reflective of bail-in risk is debatable - as is investor confidence that CDS contracts will act 'as hoped', should a bail-in occur at a European bank.

    News Analysis 25 October 2016

  • Large loss recorded

    The One HSBC Center property - securitised in GSMS 2005-GC4 - has been sold for US$14.4m, equating to a loss of 109% on the US$73.3m loan balance, including fees, expenses and advances. The loan has been in special servicing since November 2013, after transferring for imminent default (see SCI's CMBS loan events database).

    Fitch notes that the property's .......

    News Round-up 24 October 2016

  • Utilisation drop hits container deals

    Two container ABS deals - BEACN 2012-1A and GCA 2013-1A - have been called so far this month, removing about US$300m of bonds from the market. Both of the transactions had experienced declines in average utilisation rate and average portfolio lease rate, which likely contributed to the issuers' decision to call them.

    KBRA recently noted that average utilisation in BEACN .......

    News 24 October 2016

  • Strategic relationship formed

    New Ocean Capital Management, together with its major shareholders XL Group and Stone Point Capital, has announced a newly formed strategic relationship with Mitsui. Mitsui has committed an initial US$100m of proprietary investment capital to New Ocean's private fund platform on a multi-year basis, and will endeavor to source additional capital by 2020.

    As part of this strategic transaction, Mitsui .......

    Job Swaps 24 October 2016

  • SCI Start the Week - 24 October

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

    Pipeline
    The balance appeared to shift last week, as fewer deals joined the pipeline and far more departed. The week's additions were four ABS, two RMBS, two CMBS and four CLOs.

    US$640m Apollo Aviation Securitization Equity Trust 2016-2, US$840.78m Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables Trust 2016-B, US$175m EARN 2016-D and CNY3bn Toyota Glory 2016-1 accounted for the ABS, while the .......

    News 24 October 2016

  • Ratings complaints prepped

    The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing a civil complaint against Moody's in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging certain violations of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act in connection with ratings assigned to RMBS and CDOs in the period leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Moody's disclosed in its Q3 .......

    Job Swaps 24 October 2016

  • Rights issues

    Tax lien ABS growing, but third-party servicers scarce

    The US tax lien ABS sector has grown steadily since 2014 in terms of both issuance and investor interest. While it provides several opportunities for investors, its growth could be hampered by unique challenges, in particular a lack of third-party servicers with sufficient operational capability.

    The expansion of tax lien ABS in the US has been most apparent in the .......

    News Analysis 24 October 2016

  • CMBS maturity outcomes anticipated

    US$119bn in outstanding performing commercial mortgage loans backing CMBS will mature by the end of 2018, says S&P, with around 77% of this concentrated in 2017. The rating agency has assessed the outcomes of the US$284bn by original balance worth of loans that have already resolved in 2014, 2015 and 2016 so far to provide a benchmark for potential performance .......

    News Round-up 21 October 2016

  • SFIG files CRT opinions

    SFIG has responded to the FHFA's request for information on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's credit risk transfer strategies. Along with its own letter, SFIG has also participated in the submission of a joint trade comment letter with organisations such as the American Bankers Association, Association of Mortgage Investors, Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association .......

    News Round-up 21 October 2016

  • Climate finance scheme agreed

    The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the EIB have launched the Luxembourg-EIB Climate Finance Platform, which aims to mobilise investment in climate projects. The initiative will contribute to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and marks the first time a European Member State has entered into such a partnership with the EIB.

    Scaling-up private finance and deployment capacity is a .......

    News Round-up 21 October 2016

  • Arcus makes first addition

    Lloyd's of London syndicate Arcus Syndicate 1856, which is fully capitalised with funds managed by the Credit Suisse ILS investment management team, has appointed Katie Higgon as an underwriter. She was previously at Aon Benfield, where she was a broker and client manager on the North American property team.

    Higgon will report to Nicky Payne. She is the firm's first .......

    Job Swaps 21 October 2016

  • Liquidity review

    Fund valuation considerations highlighted

    The use of liquidity data in determining asset values is subject to increasing industry analysis and the US SEC's finalisation of its liquidity risk management rules will likely focus attention on this topic further. But uncertainties remain surrounding the intersection of valuation and liquidity, as well as questions over how best to collect liquidity data.

    According to Deloitte's latest Fair .......

    News Analysis 21 October 2016

  • US CLO supply spike

    There is a spike in supply in the US CLO secondary market today.

    "It's a busy day today with a few more BWICs than we've seen in recent days," says one trader. "There's plenty of mezz and equity in for the bid and that'll provide a lot of data points on the follow."

    The pick-up in secondary supply is no .......

    SCIWire 20 October 2016

  • Refinancing activity accelerates

    US CLO refinancing volume has shot up this month, impacting 14 deals for a total value of US$6.2bn so far, versus US$3.7bn seen during the whole of September. The increase in activity has created a clear term structure at the triple-A level.

    Deutsche Bank CLO analysts note that for refinancing CLOs at or near the end of their reinvestment periods, .......

    News 20 October 2016
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