Complete news archive

  • Innovative ILS programme launched

    Kane SAC has listed its new ILS note programme on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. The programme has been set up with the addition of the EuroClear settlement system to facilitate secondary trading for catastrophe bonds by allowing investors to trade OTC using a recognisable system. The US$20.695m Dodeka I-2015 is the first issuance to use the new programme.

    .......

    News Round-up 13 February 2015

  • CDS auctions due

    The auction to settle the credit derivative trades for Caesars Entertainment Operating Company Inc CDS and LCDS has been scheduled for 19 February. ISDA's Americas Determinations Committee anticipates holding the auction for RadioShack CDS during the week of 2 March.

    .......

    News Round-up 13 February 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS returns to form

    After an up and down week in terms of activity the European ABS/MBS secondary markets have returned to form.

    Flows across the secondary market increased yesterday in both bilateral trades and BWICs as lists were added throughout the day. Most names saw strong trading levels and that positive tone has extended into this morning.

    The recent favourite sectors continued to .......

    SCIWire 13 February 2015

  • US RMBS looks to tomorrow

    The US non-agency RMBS secondary market is still fairly quiet post-Vegas, but tomorrow should see renewed focus with the large AON list due at 10:00 New York time (SCIWire 9 February 2015).

    "It looks like another quiet day today with people still trickling back from Vegas," says one trader. BWIC volume today is low for a Thursday at $200m-$300m, aside .......

    SCIWire 12 February 2015

  • Short-duration trades touted

    Around €4.4bn of EMEA CMBS loans are scheduled to mature in 2015, with about half of them expected to repay at maturity. Many of these loans are large and could result in significant principal payments for senior noteholders.

    About €2.3bn of the loans maturing this year have already prepaid, but a few good quality candidates remain that are very likely .......

    News 12 February 2015

  • Valuation RFPs issued

    The US NAIC has released RFPs from vendors to produce valuations for state insurance regulators to set risk-based capital requirements for CMBS and RMBS owned by US-domiciled insurance companies. Responses to the RFPs are due on 10 March.

    Consistent with NAIC policy, the association periodically submits third-party contracts to competitive rebidding. Blackrock Solutions and PIMCO have been providing the valuations .......

    News Round-up 12 February 2015

  • Capital calculation tool introduced

    The OCC, US Federal Reserve and FDIC have developed an automated tool to help national banks and federal savings associations calculate risk-based capital requirements for securitisation exposures. The agencies are making the tool available for all banks that use the simplified supervisory formula approach to help calculate associated capital requirements.

    The tool is designed to help reduce the potential burden .......

    News Round-up 12 February 2015

  • OTC amendments proposed

    The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has proposed legislative amendments to the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) to effect reforms to the regulation of OTC derivatives trading and the securities market. The consultation follows the feedback it received on these reforms.

    The proposed amendments cater for the mandatory reporting and central clearing of OTC derivatives trades, as well as the .......

    News Round-up 12 February 2015

  • Business development head hired

    Spencer Potts has joined CIFC as head of business development. He arrives from Silver Creek Capital, where he was md and head of business development for the firm.

    In his role at Silver Creek Capital, Potts was responsible for marketing institutional investment portfolios centred around alternative assets, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate. Prior to this, he was .......

    Job Swaps 12 February 2015

  • CMBS default decline analysed

    Fitch says that the marginal decline of loans in default/special servicing in 4Q14 as a percentage of its rated EMEA CMBS portfolio does not signal a change in maturity trends for legacy transactions. The number of loans maturing in 2015 is small compared with those that matured in 2013 and 2014; however, the majority of loans continue to default at .......

    News Round-up 12 February 2015

  • CLO demand capacity gauged

    Amid slower origination levels and a fading legacy CLO bid, CDO strategists at JPMorgan have updated their CLO reinvestment model to project global CLO liquidity over the next few years. They forecast US$524bn in demand capacity from both US and European CLOs in 2015-2016 combined.

    The JPMorgan reinvestment model brackets the universe into four groups by reinvestment period and calculates .......

    News 12 February 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS dampens down

    Secondary European ABS/MBS activity has dampened down once more as participants step away amid broader market volatility.

    "Flows are again relatively light," says one trader. "There's some concern over Greece and to a lesser extent Ukraine, which is keeping things pretty static in ABS."

    Core bonds remain the main focus of the ABS/MBS market with spreads grinding ever tighter led .......

    SCIWire 12 February 2015

  • US CMBS ticking over

    While most US secondary structured finance markets have been all but non-existent during the Vegas conference, the non-agency CMBS market has been ticking over.

    Spreads have remained broadly unchanged throughout the week, but volumes have been reasonably healthy. Today's BWIC schedule looks set to reach around the $200m mark as it did yesterday after seeing just over half that Monday.

    SCIWire 11 February 2015

  • Staying afloat

    Rising pressures test servicer resilience

    Recent regulatory and investor pressure on Ocwen has highlighted the operational weaknesses of some US RMBS servicers. Improved risk management - especially regarding communication, information and process flows - is key to strengthening their approach.

    The past few months have seen Ocwen agreeing to a US$150m settlement with the NYDFS and responding to investor allegations of contractual breaches in connection .......

    News Analysis 11 February 2015

  • Man adds distressed credit vet

    Himanshu Gulati has joined Man GLG as head of US distressed credit. He will manage a new distressed investment strategy, which the firm plans to launch later this year.

    Gulati arrives from Perry Capital, where he was a managing partner responsible for distressed credit and special situations investments. Prior to this, he was at Rockview Capital, after working within the .......

    Job Swaps 11 February 2015

  • Spanish arrears declining

    The Spanish economic recovery is feeding into mortgage performance, according to Fitch's latest quarterly index report for the sector. Late-stage arrears are down and national home prices have stabilised.

    Indeed, loans in late-stage arrears - including defaults - have decreased for the second quarter in a row to stand at 6.2% in December 2014 from their most recent peak of .......

    News Round-up 11 February 2015

  • Law firm expands LatAm presence

    Clifford Chance has recruited Gianluca Bacchiocchi as a partner to its banking and finance practice in the Americas. His arrival will bolster the firm's support of its clients in the Latin American region.

    Bacchiocchi comes to Clifford Chance from DLA Piper. His practice focuses on representing sponsors, issuers and underwriters in cross-border capital markets transactions in Latin America, including project .......

    Job Swaps 11 February 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS picks up

    Despite the lack of BWIC supply activity picked up in European ABS/MBS yesterday and into this morning.

    Dutch and UK RMBS, both prime and non-conforming, Italian RMBS and UK autos are all seeing strong appetite again from both buy- and sell-side players. Consequently spreads in those sectors are edging in or holding tight.

    Elsewhere the story is more mixed with some .......

    SCIWire 11 February 2015

  • Retail hits

    The US CMBS market was last week hit by a double-whammy of negative news, as RadioShack filed for bankruptcy and Staples announced plans to acquire Office Depot. However, the ensuing store closures are anticipated to have only a minor impact on CMBS transactions, despite the sector's large exposure to the retailers.

    Staples expects its acquisition of Office Depot to deliver .......

    News 11 February 2015

  • PLS loss expectations tested

    The US Treasury last week published the findings from its study on credit rating agency loss expectations. The move is part of the Department's initiative to expand access to credit by boosting the private-label RMBS market (SCI 1 July 2014).

    The Treasury says it recognised that the PLS market has been dormant since the financial crisis partly because of a .......

    News Round-up 10 February 2015

  • Loss severities compared

    Loss severities on liquidated US residential mortgages are comparable between Freddie Mac and non-agency loans when controlling for attributes, according to Fitch. Freddie Mac recently enhanced its single-family residential loan-level historical dataset by adding loan-level loss data (SCI 25 November 2014).

    In doing so, the GSE increased transparency to the market in anticipation of an actual loss credit offering in .......

    News Round-up 10 February 2015
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