Complete news archive

  • MSR portfolio sold

    First South Bank has purchased a US$84.6m mortgage servicing rights portfolio from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The portfolio comprises 452 high quality loans based in North Carolina. The purchase increases First South Bank's MSR book to approximately US$2.8m and also brings its total balance of mortgage loans serviced for others to approximately US$376.9m.

    .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2016

  • Green bonds surging

    Global green bond issuance rose in 2Q16 to a new quarterly high of US$20.3bn, US$3.4bn more than the 1Q16 figure of US$16.9bn. Moody's says that green bond issuance stood at US$37.2bn for the first six months of 2016, an 89% increase from the same period in 2015.

    "The global green bond market is now poised to reach US$75bn in total volume for .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2016

  • Client support team boosted

    Assenagon says it is pushing a more international strategy with the hire of Thomas Kramer to its sales team, where he will provide client support primarily targeting Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. Kramer will interact with institutional clients, such as asset managers, family offices, insurance companies, pension funds and banks.

    He joins following a stint as senior relationship manager at Quoniam Asset Management, in .......

    Job Swaps 26 July 2016

  • AIR to model pandemic ILS

    AIR Worldwide has been chosen by the World Bank Group to model its Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF). The launch of the mechanism was announced two months ago with the aim of using ILS to protect against future pandemics (SCI 23 May).

    The PEF initiative seeks to help initiate the first-ever insurance market for pandemic risk, combining funding from both .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2016

  • CRT ratings bolstered

    Fitch has taken various positive rating actions on 152 classes from 26 GSE credit risk-sharing (CRT) RMBS issued between 2013 and 2016. The agency reports that the reference mortgage pools of the affected deals have performed well to date, with no pool reporting more than 24bp of serious delinquency, as of the most recent remittance report.

    The transactions under review .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2016

  • Auditing issues

    Subordinate assumptions, transparency examined

    Auditing the accuracy of a client's most complex fair value measurements is no mean feat. There are several factors that make the process more challenging, however. Top of the list is the ability to gain sufficient transparency into the assumptions used by firms that provide prices on subordinated and equity positions.

    Methodologies for pricing structured finance securities tend to rely .......

    News Analysis 26 July 2016

  • Call for claims issued

    The administrator of the Credit Suisse Bulk Settlement Practice (BSP) Fair Fund has called for eligible claimants to submit a proof of claim form by 15 November 2016. Preliminary distribution calculations will then be made for all eligible claimants in each harmed RMBS trust on a pro-rata basis, determined by the claimant's investment in the harmed trust divided by the .......

    Job Swaps 26 July 2016

  • Commercial PACE financing boost

    CleanFund has entered into an agreement with Soligent entity Solar Engine to finance the purchase and installation of solar panel systems for commercial, multifamily, non-profit and other non-residential buildings in the US. Dealers and installers who are members of the Soligent network can now access CleanFund's SolarPACE financing programmes.

    CleanFund's new SolarPACE programme was designed specifically for solar project financing .......

    Job Swaps 26 July 2016

  • Euro secondary slow

    The summer slowdown is manifesting itself across the bulk of the European securitisation secondary market.

    "It's been very quiet in the past few days with flows down significantly and BWIC volumes subdued," says one trader. "That's all thanks to the lack of volatility and the start of the summer lull."

    However, the trader adds: "We have seen some enquiries in UK .......

    SCIWire 26 July 2016

  • Capital markets pro tapped

    LeaderOne Financial has hired Todd Leddon as svp of capital markets. In the role, he will focus on interest rate risk management, securitisation, loan pricing/best execution, margin management, financial modelling and negotiations.

    Leddon joins the mortgage lender from Skyline Financial, where he was vp in capital markets. He has also held senior roles at CS Financial, Bank of America and Countrywide.

    .......

    Job Swaps 25 July 2016

  • SCI Start the Week - 25 July

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

    Pipeline
    Last week's pipeline activity was largely in line with the week before it. There were four new ABS added to the list, along with three RMBS, three CMBS, a CLO and a CDO.

    US$190m Earnest Student Loan Program 2016-C, €1bn IM BCC Cajamar PYME 1, US$600m Kubota Credit Owner Trust 2016-1 and US$480.55m SoFi Consumer Loan Program 2016-2 .......

    News 25 July 2016

  • NPL policy options offered

    The EBA says that the revival of the EU market for securitisation may widen the range of options that banks could consider for addressing their non-performing loans. In a new report on recent trends in asset quality across the region's banking sector, the authority stresses the need for supervisory guidance in tackling NPLs, particularly in collateral valuation and arrears management.

    News Round-up 25 July 2016

  • Maynard team poached

    Bradley Arant Boult Cummings has brought in Julia Bernstein as one of five new recruits to the law firm. She joins as partner, working within the real estate and banking and financial services teams.

    Bernstein will focus on all aspects of the representation of lenders and borrowers in secured and unsecured transactions, as well as structured finance and multi-state transactions. .......

    Job Swaps 25 July 2016

  • Indian lending risks outlined

    The underwriting practices of lenders will be vital to controlling credit risk in Indian affordable housing loans, reports Moody's. The agency explains that the underprivileged status of many borrowers under the initiative will present unique risks to RMBS.

    The Indian government is seeking to increase home ownership among lower income earners in the country through an affordable housing scheme. These loans are .......

    News Round-up 25 July 2016

  • Loan leverage stabilising

    The credit profile of US conduit CMBS loans was substantially unchanged between the first two quarters of this year, according to Moody's. The agency reports that conduit loan leverage has plateaued at roughly its pre-crisis peak, as measured by Moody's loan-to-value (MLTV) ratio.

    "With US commercial property prices flat for the past two quarters, stable underwritten LTV has resulted in .......

    News Round-up 25 July 2016

  • Portugal Telecom CDS settled

    The final price for Portugal Telecom International Finance CDS was settled at 20. Yesterday's auction saw 10 dealers submit initial markets, physical settlement requests and limit orders to settle trades across the market referencing the entity, after a bankruptcy credit event occurred in connection with the company (SCI 12 July).

    .......

    News Round-up 22 July 2016

  • OTC clearing head named

    Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has appointed Jacky Mak as md, head of OTC clearing. He will be in charge of business development and operations of OTC Clearing Hong Kong (OTC Clear), a subsidiary of HKEX, reporting to HKEX's head of clearing Calvin Tai.

    Mak succeeds Kelvin Lee, who has retired after more than 25 years of service with .......

    Job Swaps 22 July 2016

  • Structured products team moves

    K&L Gates has opened a new office in Munich and appointed a team from King & Wood Mallesons to staff it. The team will be led by Hilger von Livonius and also includes Philipp Riedle and Michael Harris. Von Livonius has around 20 years of experience and concentrates his practice on banking, capital markets, asset management and regulatory matters, with .......

    Job Swaps 22 July 2016

  • ILS spreads hit new high

    ILS issuance slowed in 2Q16 from the record-breaking first quarter, with only US$800m in catastrophe bonds hitting the primary market, according to Aon Securities' latest report on the sector. Spreads also reached a four-year high at 8.4%, corresponding to a weighted average expected loss of 5.05%.

    Aon says that the contraction in issuance can be attributed to competition from traditional .......

    News Round-up 22 July 2016

  • ILS lawyer to lead expansion

    Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has expanded into transactional liability insurance in the US and Canada. In connection with the move, the firm has named Robert Underhill as svp, head of transactional liability based in New York. It has also appointed Dan Crosby as vp, transactional liability, and Amy Bowman and Michael Brooks as avps.

    BHSI will underwrite representations and .......

    Job Swaps 22 July 2016

  • Placed issuance up

    €74.5bn of securitised product was issued in Europe in 2Q16, according to AFME's latest data snapshot. This represents an increase of 30.9% from 1Q16 (€56.9bn) and an increase of 49.3% from 2Q15 (€49.9bn).

    Of this volume, €29.1bn was publicly placed (representing 39.1%), compared to €14.3bn placed in 1Q16 (representing 25.1% of that quarter's total) and €28.4bn placed in 2Q15 (56.9%). .......

    News Round-up 22 July 2016
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