Complete news archive

  • Waive, goodbye

    Penalty waiver leads to rapid pay-off

    The Pickwick Plaza loan securitised in GCCFC 2007-GG9 has paid off early, a month after it was modified to waive prepayment penalties (see SCI's loan events database). Although investors will typically be wary of such modifications, this case included an unusual claw-back provision.

    The pay-off is understood to have resulted in US$188m in principal proceeds to the trust .......

    News Analysis 13 March 2015

  • Debt forgiveness implications evaluated

    Recent legal changes that facilitate debt restructuring agreements for personal borrowers in Spain formalise practices that are already common, Fitch observes. While the changes introduce debt forgiveness to the Spanish personal insolvency regime, the agency believes that the attitude of mortgage borrowers who are able to pay will not materially change. This is because debt cancellation would only happen after .......

    News Round-up 13 March 2015

  • CMBS defeasance team bolstered

    Waterstone Defeasance has hired Steve Hall as md. He will work on developing institutional relationships related to the defeasance of existing CMBS and Freddie Mac loans, as well as providing development coverage for the firm in the states of North Carolina, Texas, New York, Florida and California.

    Previously, Hall was with Waterstone Asset Management, helping build and grow its CMBS .......

    Job Swaps 13 March 2015

  • Mexican telcos wider on weak currencies

    Weaker Latin American currencies and regulatory issues appear to be driving CDS spreads wider for two Mexican telecom giants, according to Fitch Solutions. Five-year CDS on America Movil and Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) widened by 28% and 29% last week respectively.

    CDS referencing both companies' debt are now pricing at the widest levels observed since August 2013, with America Movil's .......

    News Round-up 13 March 2015

  • Collateral management tool upgraded

    Lombard Risk Management has updated its collateral management, clearing, inventory management and optimisation solution COLLINE to now support margin requirements on non-centrally cleared derivatives. COLLINE aims to ensure that each new release includes functionality to enable its clients to meet their regulatory obligations across all capital markets.

    .......

    News Round-up 13 March 2015

  • RMBS 'conduct issues' identified

    The UK FCA has identified certain conduct issues in connection with some mortgages securitised in the Leek Finance Number 17 to 22 and Silk Road Finance Number 1 and 3 RMBS transactions. Under the resulting remediation exercise, the principal balances of the affected loans will be adjusted lower.

    In order to mitigate the impact on noteholders, the principal balances will .......

    News Round-up 13 March 2015

  • SOTUS boost for Euro CLOs

    US regulators last month added new guidance to their list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the Volcker Rule that should permit most non-US banks to invest in covered funds that are sponsored, managed and marketed by third parties. The move is especially significant for European CLOs, as it indicates that non-US banks will be able to invest in European .......

    News 13 March 2015

  • ILS unit strengthened

    Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has appointed David Grill to help explore methods for expansion. CSAM is Credit Suisse's ILS and reinsurance arm, which currently manages approximately US$6.5bn in insurance-linked assets.

    Grill currently serves as md for Credit Suisse and covers corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets. He has held previous roles with Sagent Advisors, Bear Stearns and .......

    Job Swaps 13 March 2015

  • Liquidation list looms

    The hectic pace in European secondary securitisation markets looks set to continue today with six BWICs currently due, but of those a large CDO liquidation list will dominate attention.

    Despite the heavy volume of BWICs yesterday, the market absorbed the supply and the majority of line items traded well. Off-BWIC the tone was also positive particularly for Portuguese and UK .......

    SCIWire 13 March 2015

  • Entrants encouraged

    More managers could benefit European CLO market

    The European CLO market is smaller than its US counterpart, but arguably provides greater scope for a good manager to outperform. With the pool of European managers currently limited, equity investors are among those who would welcome new entrants.

    The CLO market has learnt many lessons from its 1.0 days, not least that in Europe there were too few assets. .......

    News Analysis 13 March 2015

  • Patchy week for US RMBS

    The US non-agency RMBS secondary market has seen patchy activity in a quieter week, but there have been some unusual bonds on offer and the overall tone remains positive.

    "This week has been a little quieter than usual - we've never really got going with busy mornings and then activity slipping right away in the afternoon, like summer Fridays," says one trader. .......

    SCIWire 12 March 2015

  • US CLOs look to double-Bs

    The US CLO secondary market appears to be shifting attention towards double-B paper.

    "The market has shifted focus towards double-Bs and is now testing levels in that part of the stack," says one trader. "There are quite a few of relevant bonds appearing on BWIC and we'll have a clearer idea of where double-Bs are after those lists trade today .......

    SCIWire 12 March 2015

  • Securitisation aiding US economy

    Securitisation continues to contribute a significant share of funding to the US economy. Moody's cites as an example the fact that US businesses turned to CLOs and CMBS for US$208bn worth of capital and liquidity last year - representing nearly half of US securitisation volume in 2014 - which helped fund bank loans to commercial enterprises and CRE.

    "The virtual .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • CDS vet joins crypto start-up

    Sunil Hirani and Don Wilson have launched Digital Asset Holdings and hired Blythe Masters as its ceo. The firm has developed a technology platform that facilitates the safe and efficient settlement between digital and traditional currencies. The aim is to bring the benefits of speed and cryptographic security to transferring, tracking and settling of mainstream financial assets as well.

    The .......

    Job Swaps 12 March 2015

  • CCP stress test review underway

    The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and IOSCO have begun a review of stress testing by central counterparties. They say that a review is timely, in order to identify how the relevant principles for market infrastructure standards are being implemented and whether additional guidance in this area is needed. CCPs, clearing participants and other relevant stakeholders will be consulted .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • RFC on SME CLO approach

    Scope Ratings is requesting comments on its new SME CLO rating methodology. Its proposals include forward-looking and through-the-cycle base-case assumptions, with the aim of providing more rating stability, particularly for high investment grade ratings.

    In addition, Scope believes that the credit assessment of a sovereign is not an adequate anchor for a rating cap, particularly in eurozone countries. Rather, the .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • Trader guilty of CLO fraud

    Former Nomura and RBS CLO trader Matthew Katke has waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in a Hartford, Connecticut federal court to participating in an alleged multimillion securities fraud scheme. Katke also entered into an agreement to cooperate in the US government's ongoing investigation.

    Between April 2008 and August 2013, Katke admitted that he and others conspired to .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • Rep and warranty frameworks weighed

    The two types of US RMBS representation and warranty (R&W) frameworks that are prevalent post-crisis can adequately detect and remedy R&W breaches, according Moody's. However, the approaches have different strengths and weaknesses.

    Transactions with open-ended reviews of loans - such as those recently sponsored by Redwood Trust and WinWater - can be very effective at catching R&W breaches if there .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • CDS heat map unveiled

    Fitch Solutions has launched a new interactive tool enabling users to identify average monthly changes in CDS, aggregated by country. The tool is available via Fitch's The Why? Forum portal and updated on a weekly basis.

    .......

    News Round-up 12 March 2015

  • Ready for take-off

    Aircraft ABS building momentum

    After a flurry of deals at the end of last year and another one issued last month, aircraft ABS appears to be shrugging off the esoteric label and establishing itself as an asset class in its own right. The sector has a track record that investors can analyse and is showing signs of diversity in both structure and collateral.

    "Aircraft .......

    News Analysis 12 March 2015

  • Green power

    Renewables securitisation gaining traction

    A number of initiatives in the US harness securitisation technology to facilitate the growth of the green energy market. The common challenges faced by these efforts are asset scalability and contract standardisation.

    In the context of renewables securitisation, the similarities and differences between assets in a pool need to be as known and as clear as possible, according to Crowell .......

    News Analysis 12 March 2015
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