Complete news archive

  • Freddie RMBS benefits mezz

    Freddie Mac is in the market with its first rated senior/subordinate cash RMBS. The US$600m Freddie Mac Whole Loan Securities Trust Series 2015-SC02 has a number of unique structural features that differentiate it from private-label RMBS transactions and generally benefit the mezzanine bonds, according to Moody's latest Credit Outlook.

    Moody's has provisionally assigned A2, Baa2 and Ba1 ratings to the .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • Law firm adds CLO pro

    Ashurst has appointed Lawrence Berkovich as a partner in its US CLO team. He joins from Mayer Brown and specialises in complex structured finance transactions.

    Berkovich has a particular focus on broadly syndicated and middle-market CLOs, first mortgage and mezzanine CRE loan securitisations and rated and unrated leveraged loan and CRE loan warehouse facilities. He also has extensive experience with .......

    Job Swaps 16 November 2015

  • Fewer CMBS servicing transfers

    Increased US CMBS issuance has coincided with a decrease in the number of loans transferring to special servicing, notes Fitch. Through October, US$4.3bn has transferred to special servicing in Fitch-rated transactions this year, down from US$6.8bn in both 2014 and 2013.

    The rating agency has received notification from master servicers of 383 loans being transferred to special servicing year-to-date October .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • CIB bulks up

    Alasdair Warren has joined Deutsche Bank to head up its new corporate and investment banking (CIB) division in the EMEA region. Warren's hire is among a number made by Deutsche as it continues to restructure its leadership team and operations under co-ceo John Cryan (SCI passim).

    Warren joins from Goldman Sachs, where he was partner and global co-head of the financial sponsors group. .......

    Job Swaps 16 November 2015

  • Insurance merger progresses

    Willis Group has urged its shareholders and shareholders of Towers Watson to vote in favour of the proposed merger between the two firms (SCI 30 June). Both boards have already unanimously agreed on the transaction.

    The proposed deal will enable Willis shareholders to benefit from a significant economic opportunity generated by the combination, while Towers Watson investors would benefit through .......

    Job Swaps 16 November 2015

  • Granite funding structure formed

    Cerberus European Residential Holdings (CERH) has established a non-revolving warehouse facility - dubbed Neptune Rated Warehouse - to finance the purchase of the Granite portfolio from UKAR (SCI 13 November). Arranged by Morgan Stanley, loan facilities to the SPV will be provided by a consortium of four lenders.

    The structure comprises six loan facilities and an unrated subordinate note. Fitch .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • EMIR reporting standards updated

    ESMA has published an update of existing technical standards regarding data reporting requirements under EMIR. The update transposes a series of Q&As as well as other improvements which have followed a review of existing technical standards.

    The updated technical standards clarify date fields, adapt existing fields to the reporting logic prescribed in existing Q&As and introduce new fields and values .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • Catastrophe agreement extended

    State National Companies has extended its partnership with Nephila Capital. In exchange for the continued exclusive right to produce catastrophe-exposed property insurance via State National, Nephila has agreed to pay State National contractual minimum ceding fees through 2019.

    The contractual minimum fees are subject to State National maintaining its single-A AM Best rating, with potential reductions if State National is .......

    Job Swaps 16 November 2015

  • SCI Start the Week - 16 November

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

    Pipeline
    Last week's pipeline additions were skewed to ABS and CMBS. There were nine of the former and four of the latter, as well as an ILS, an RMBS and a CLO.

    The ABS were: CNY3.22bn Bavarian Sky China 2015-2; US$400m NRZ Advance Receivables Trust 2015-ON1 2015-T3; US$400m NRZ Advance Receivables Trust 2015-ON1 2015-T4; US$536.4m SoFi Professional Loan Program .......

    News 16 November 2015

  • OneMain merger approved

    Springleaf has reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of seven states that will allow the company to proceed with closing its acquisition of OneMain Financial Services. An announcement on the acquisition was released earlier this year, with an original expectation for it to close in 3Q15 (SCI 9 March).

    Springleaf says that details of .......

    Job Swaps 16 November 2015

  • Dutch mortgage lending jumps

    New players entering the Dutch housing market are intensifying competition and prompting more lending activity, according to Moody's. Lending shot up by 36.5% over the first nine months of 2015, but Dutch RMBS volume is expected to stay flat going into 2016.

    "Home purchases, as opposed to mortgage refinancings, are the main driver of the increased lending volume and we expect .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • VW credit risks vary

    The credit quality of ABS sponsored by Volkswagen is being negatively affected by the heightened risks to the earnings and reputation of the car manufacturer, says Moody's. The agency currently rates 34 VW ABS transactions globally, including 20 in Europe, six in the US, six in Asia and two in Latin America.

    Moody's downgraded the long-term senior unsecured ratings of .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • Trups defaults dip

    US bank Trups CDO combined defaults and deferrals marginally dropped to 18% at the end of October from 18.1% the previous month, according to Fitch's latest index results for the sector. Three bank issuers representing US$19m of notional cured in three CDOs during the month.

    In addition, there were no new deferring or re-deferring issuers in October. However, one issuer .......

    News Round-up 16 November 2015

  • Euro secondary solid

    The European securitisation secondary market remained solid into last week's close.

    Reasonable flows across the board on Friday once again evidenced the slow rise in secondary liquidity and spreads remained stable. Activity was once again strongest in UK non-conforming and Dutch prime. UK prime was relatively quiet following the news on Granite and Portuguese paper continues to suffer from political concerns.

    SCIWire 16 November 2015

  • CMBS payoff rate climbs

    October's payoff rate for loans backing US CMBS rose from 84.3% in September to 86% in October, according to Morningstar. October was the fourth consecutive month where more than US$6bn was due for repayment.

    US$6.21bn was due for repayment last month, of which US$5.29bn was repaid in full. The month's performance bumped the year-to-date maturity payoff rate up by 10bp, .......

    News Round-up 13 November 2015

  • Cerberus set to buy Granite

    UKAR will sell £13bn of loans previously held on Northern Rock's legacy book to Cerberus Capital Management, £12bn of which lies in the Granite securitisation vehicle. The sale ends months of speculation regarding the winning bidder and the potential scenarios the portfolio could face (SCI passim).

    "The sale, which raises £13bn for the British taxpayer, is the largest ever sale of financial assets .......

    News Round-up 13 November 2015

  • Israeli securitisation plan set out

    A joint report has been published by a number of Israeli government organisations which calls for the promotion of securitisation in Israel, albeit in a 'cautious' and 'measured fashion'. It concentrates on obstacles in areas such as taxation, regulation and accounting, and cites various recommendations to remove them.

    The report was released by the Bank of Israel, the Israel Securities Authority, .......

    News Round-up 13 November 2015

  • Duo step up to lead ILS firm

    Tokio Solution Management has appointed Susan Lane and Tsuyoshi Harigai as co-ceos, effective from 1 January 2016. They will take over from Kathleen Faries, who will become head of the Bermuda branch of Tokio Millennium Re.

    Lane and Harigai will have joint responsibility for the day-to-day management of Tokio Solution. Lane is currently svp and head of business development and .......

    Job Swaps 13 November 2015

  • CRE momentum continues

    Positive momentum continued in all US CRE sectors in 3Q15, says Moody's. Though GDP growth will be constrained by the strong dollar and low oil prices, the rating agency notes that the US economy is healthy and interest rate increases are likely to be more gradual than in previous monetary tightening cycles.

    Moody's base expected loss for conduit/fusion transactions rose .......

    News Round-up 13 November 2015

  • Marketplace platform bolstered

    Marketplace loan securitisation platform Ldger has appointed James Alexander as cio. He will open an office in San Francisco to build relationships with leading technology-based originators.

    Alexander has been involved in marketplace lending since 2010. He previously held roles at Prosper and Lending Club, where he facilitated access to institutional capital. In a previous role for Colchis Capital he developed .......

    Job Swaps 13 November 2015

  • Euro CLOs stymied

    New issue activity is pulling focus away from the European CLO secondary market.

    "There's not much happening in secondary - we've only done a handful of trades this week," says one trader. "It's all about primary at the moment as we're in one of those windows in which new issues can price most easily and that's taking the focus away .......

    SCIWire 13 November 2015
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