Complete news archive

  • Sequoia structural innovations evaluated

    Redwood Trust's RMBS offering from April, Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2015-2, includes several new structural enhancements for the asset class (SCI 5 May). Fitch says that the features are intended to mitigate potential conflicts of interest, many of which are a plus, but could also introduce a new risk.

    The transaction wasn't rated by Fitch, as the agency says it is currently assessing the new structure. .......

    News Round-up 12 June 2015

  • SFR default remedies differ

    Moody's suggests that special servicers will likely pursue different strategies to remedy defaults between single-borrower and multi-borrower SFR securitisations. This is because differences in the size of the borrowers of the loans backing these securitisations will affect the defaulted loan's recovery values under different resolution options.

    "Special servicers will be more likely to forbear or modify defaulted loans in single-borrower .......

    News Round-up 12 June 2015

  • Auction listings spike

    The latest Auction.com listings indicate that a further 44 properties with US$622m in allocated balance across 30 CMBS loans are up for bid in late June and July (SCI 19 May). This is the highest monthly auction volume year-to-date, driven primarily by several large loans, according to Barclays Capital CMBS analysts.

    "The increase in large loans was noticeable, with 13 .......

    News Round-up 12 June 2015

  • MSR sale 'credit positive'

    Ocwen's sale of US$90bn in mortgage servicing rights is credit positive for the servicer, according to Moody's. The agency says this is due to the likelihood that Ocwen will use the proceeds to significantly decrease its financial leverage.

    Proceeds from the MSR sales could provide Ocwen with sufficient liquid resources to repay its outstanding corporate debt, specifically its US$1.2bn in .......

    News Round-up 12 June 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS struggles on

    The European ABS/MBS secondary markets continue to struggle with poor liquidity and broader market volatility.

    Market tone continued to be weak on light volumes yesterday and looks unlikely to change today in the penultimate gasp before Barcelona amid further Greek concerns. Prime assets continue to attract what activity there is and spreads there are holding up reasonably well, while peripheral .......

    SCIWire 12 June 2015

  • US CLOs thinning

    The US CLO secondary market is continuing to see heavy BWIC volumes but liquidity is thinning.

    "It's very busy this week in terms of BWICs despite Barcelona next week, quarter-end and rate moves," says one trader. "But because of those three factors the market is thinner with fewer guys bidding on bonds and the bid-ask has widened significantly."

    As a .......

    SCIWire 11 June 2015

  • Euro CLOs soften

    The European CLO secondary market is seeing prices soften as summer hoves into view.

    "In common with other markets, we're a little bit weaker," says one trader. "It's in 1.0s chiefly, but even there double-Bs, for example, haven't seen a dramatic move - just a couple of points. In 2.0s the weakness is most evident in double- and single-Bs but .......

    SCIWire 11 June 2015

  • ESAs consult on margin requirements

    The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have launched a second consultation on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives under EMIR. For OTC derivative transactions that will not be subject to central clearing, the draft RTS prescribe the regulatory amount of initial and variation margin that counterparties should exchange, as well as the methodologies for their calculations. In .......

    News Round-up 11 June 2015

  • Payment holiday 'credit positive'

    The Italian Banking Association's two-year renewal of its payment holiday scheme will support both Italian companies and individuals whose liquidity position is stretched amid the sluggish economy, according to Moody's. The agency says that the new moratorium is credit positive for SME, ABS and RMBS transactions, as it will reduce payments on loans and thus lower borrowers' propensity to default.

    News Round-up 11 June 2015

  • STACR pool risks downplayed

    Freddie Mac's newest risk-sharing RMBS transaction is the first to share a reference pool of loans with a previous transaction, says Moody's. However, the agency believes this feature will not increase credit risk for investors.

    Principal payments for STACR Debt Notes Series 2015-HQ2 will not come out of payments from STACR 2014-HQ2's portion of the shared reference pool, but rather .......

    News Round-up 11 June 2015

  • Nomura appeals fine

    Nomura has filed an appeal to the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals with regard to a recent US district court ruling that required the firm to pay US$806m in damages to the US FHFA (SCI 18 May). The figure was based on the court finding that Nomura had made false statements in selling MBS to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae prior to the 2008 financial crisis. .......

    Job Swaps 11 June 2015

  • Extension provisions scrutinised

    Loan amend-and-extend (A&E) provisions are a common feature of CLO 2.0 deals and are structured in various ways. But Moody's notes that if they could potentially result in a CLO portfolio's WAL exceeding the initial WAL test level or cause long-dated asset (LDA) exposure, the agency will conduct stress scenarios that may result in lower ratings being assigned.

    Some recent .......

    News Round-up 11 June 2015

  • Duo hired for SF push

    Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has hired Rob McBride and Sian Withey to help establish and lead a new debt securities and structured finance practice for the firm. Both partners arrive from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where they were part of the firm's global capital markets and finance practice.

    In accordance with establishing a new practice, McBride and .......

    Job Swaps 11 June 2015

  • Private debt pro tapped

    David Hirschmann has joined Permira Debt Managers as head of private credit, leading its direct lending fund. He arrives from Babson Capital Europe, where he worked on the firm's private debt instrument funds as md. Prior to that, he was an associate for UBS Warburg, focusing on leveraged finance and financial sponsor coverage.

    .......

    Job Swaps 11 June 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS drifts

    The European ABS/MBS secondary market is continuing to drift without volume or direction.

    "The combination of Greek headlines and the run up to Barcelona is making for a difficult environment," says one trader. "Liquidity continues to be exceptionally poor with a lot of investors sitting on the sidelines. There are still quite a few BWICs but we're only seeing very limited .......

    SCIWire 11 June 2015

  • Trigger effect

    Call for consistency in UK non-conforming RMBS definitions

    Improving performance in UK non-conforming RMBS is strengthening mezzanine bondholder positions as an increasing number of deals switch to paying pro rata. However, anticipating when switches will occur is being complicated by ambiguous trigger terminology.

    Barclays estimates that seven UK non-conforming RMBS transactions which are currently paying sequentially have a higher likelihood of switching to pro-rata before the end of .......

    News Analysis 11 June 2015

  • Lift off?

    Institutional investors boost marketplace lending securitisation

    The marketplace lending securitisation sector appears set for take-off, fuelled by the proliferation of online lending platforms and an influx of institutional investor capital. However, increased visibility around credit criteria and better representations and warranties are necessary for the asset class to become mainstream.

    An estimated 100 platforms are already active in the marketplace lending space, including the biggest brands .......

    News Analysis 10 June 2015

  • ABS fund manager named

    Amundi Asset Management has recruited Francois Morin as senior portfolio manager of the Amundi ABS Fund. He arrives from Natixis, where he was head of European ABS and CLO trading. Morin has also held various positions in CDC Ixis Capital Markets' credit risk department.

    .......

    Job Swaps 10 June 2015

  • RMBS analyst switches banks

    Anish Lohokare has joined Wells Fargo as a director and senior research analyst in structured products research. He will cover RMBS, develop strategies, publish research and generate investment ideas for institutional investors, with a focus on prepayment analysis and pass-through strategies.

    Lohokare joins from BNP Paribas, where he was the lead RMBS strategist with a focus on both agency RMBS .......

    Job Swaps 10 June 2015

  • Spectrum fund partnership inked

    Coherence Capital Partners and James Alpha Management have agreed to an exclusive partnership to distribute Coherence Capital's flagship Spectrum Fund. The fund is a long/short alternative investment vehicle predominantly focused on North American and European corporate and sovereign debt exposures.

    James Alpha will make a principal investment in the fund and focus on distributing it through its investor network. The two .......

    Job Swaps 10 June 2015

  • Auto ABS sets 'poor benchmark'

    An international rating - assigned by Moody's - for the Rongteng Individual Auto Mortgage Backed Securitization 2015-1 transaction has set a global precedent, according to Fitch, as the deal does not have an initial liquidity facility available to protect against any payment disruption nor back-up servicing arrangements in place. Liquidity facilities or reserve funds that are available or pre-funded at closing are .......

    News Round-up 10 June 2015
×