Complete news archive

  • Boost for Indian real estate

    KKR has established a non-banking financial company (NBFC) that will provide structured credit solutions to the real estate sector in India, with an investment from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. The firm has so far structured and participated in three transactions, with an aggregate amount of approximately US$190m.

    KKR says that while many lenders provide debt to the real estate .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2015

  • Securitisation pros promoted

    Weil, Gotshal & Manges has announced a number of promotions in the securitisation, derivatives, restructuring and litigation areas.

    Brian Maher and Ariel Kronman have been named partners in the firm's structured finance and derivatives practice in London and New York respectively. Maher has advised on a wide range of securitisations, covered bonds, restructurings/refinancings and portfolio acquisitions, while Kronman has worked .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2015

  • Promotion for risk manager

    Marathon Asset Management has promoted Jamie Raboy to partner. He has been with the firm since its inception in March 1998 and has led several business areas before becoming global head of risk management in January 2009. He also serves on Marathon's executive committee.

    Raboy joins Marathon's existing partners Bruce Richards, Louis Hanover, Andrew Rabinowitz, Richard Ronzetti, Jake Hyde, Stuart .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2015

  • Debut for new CLO team

    Mariner Investment Group has closed the first CLO - a US$502m transaction - to be managed by its newly-created CLO business. The firm hired in November the 13-member corporate credit team of its strategic partner, ORIX USA, to lead the effort.

    The business is co-led by David Martin and Erik Gunnerson, who were co-heads of the leveraged loan and high .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2015

  • Retention compliance dates set

    The final US credit risk retention rule was published in the Federal Register on 24 December. Compliance with respect to ABS collateralised by residential mortgages is therefore required beginning on 24 December 2015, while compliance with regard to all other classes of ABS is required beginning on 24 December 2016.

    The final rule was adopted by the FDIC, Fed, FHFA, .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2015

  • Looking for levels

    European ABS/MBS secondary market activity continues to increase slowly but participants are still trying to determine clearing levels, particularly around Greek bonds.

    "Activity continued to pick up a bit yesterday and into today," says one trader. "However, competing factors are at work - expectations over QE and the Greek elections. There is less conviction about direction in the broader space, .......

    SCIWire 9 January 2015

  • Euro retention activity approved

    The EBA last month published an opinion on how to improve the functioning of the securitisation market, based on its assessment of compliance by competent authorities with securitisation risk retention, due diligence and disclosure requirements. While expressing support for the provisions laid down in the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), the opinion puts forward recommendations to ensure increased transparency, legal certainty .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2015

  • US RMBS looks ahead

    Secondary activity in US non-agency RMBS has gradually picked up this week, but next week is expected to see a full return to normality.

    "The market has been particular quiet up until now," says one trader. "BWIC volume has picked up to just under $500m for today - that is light for a Thursday, but it is the first full .......

    SCIWire 8 January 2015

  • 'Wait and see' for US CLOs

    The US CLO market is continuing to adopt a wait-and-see approach to 2015.

    "There have been a few lists as people test the waters, but not that many," says one trader. "We're not seeing any major moves, the market is still in wait-and-see mode - digesting year-end marks and trying to figure out where to deploy capital or where the .......

    SCIWire 8 January 2015

  • BGC to use proxy card

    BGC Partners has extended the deadline for its fully financed, all-cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of GFI Group to 27 January. The firm also intends to file a proxy statement with a GOLD proxy card with the US SEC in order to solicit votes at a GFI special meeting on 27 January, against the 20 .......

    Job Swaps 8 January 2015

  • Swiss cat bond debuts

    GC Securities has closed what is believed to be the first-ever Swiss franc-denominated catastrophe bond. Dubbed Gurten and sponsored by Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB), the Sfr70m private deal was structured using the Kaith Re vehicle.

    The protection provided via the cat bond is positioned alongside traditional reinsurance on each layer of GVB's traditional reinsurance programme. It provides one year of annual .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2015

  • Counterparty risk rating mulled

    Moody's is proposing to change its global approach to rating structured finance (SF) securities in light of proposed changes to its global bank rating methodology, including the introduction of a new bank counterparty risk (CR) rating. If adopted, the CR rating would represent the agency's opinion on the probability of default on certain senior bank obligations and other contractual commitments.

    News Round-up 8 January 2015

  • Credit co-heads appointed

    Mehdi Kashani and Matthew Davies have been appointed interim co-heads of European credit at RBC, replacing Ian Pearce, who is believed to be leaving the bank. Kashani was previously European head of ABS and structured credit trading at RBC, while Davies was head of Europe credit sales.

    .......

    Job Swaps 8 January 2015

  • CMBS indices unveiled

    Trepp and Markit have launched of a number of CMBS indices that aim to provide independent and transparent performance coverage to CMBS market participants. The offering is designed to leverage the combination of Trepp's CMBS Deal Library and Markit's global index coverage.

    The Markit iBoxx Trepp CMBS index family includes two benchmark indices and a liquid index. The CMBS Benchmark .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2015

  • GCM backs new investment manager

    A new global structured products investment management firm, Hollis Park Partners, has launched with significant investment capital from GCM Grosvenor and other institutional investors. Hollis Park was founded by cio and managing partner Troy Dixon.

    "We believe today's environment presents attractive and rapidly changing opportunities across a wide spectrum of structured products, including agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, CLOs, CMBS .......

    Job Swaps 8 January 2015

  • Acenden sale agreed

    Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and TPG Special Situations Partners (TSSP) are set to acquire Acenden Mortgage Servicing Solutions from the administrators of Lehman Brothers. Acenden provides primary servicing, special servicing, analytics and securitisation services.

    The firm has over 64,000 loans under management, with a value of about £5.4bn. It employs almost 400 staff located in central London, High Wycombe and Dublin.

    Job Swaps 8 January 2015

  • Secondary ABS starts year strongly

    The US ABS secondary market is back up and running this week as BWIC volume yesterday reached more than US$150m. Supply was only a little lower than that on Monday and was even higher on Tuesday.

    Wednesday's supply was dominated by auto and credit card names. There was also a single student loan tranche - PHEAA 2013-3A A - picked .......

    Market Reports 8 January 2015

  • Euro ABS/MBS activity continues to rise

    Trading activity in the European ABS/MBS secondary market is slowly but surely increasing as the week continues.

    "Today looks to be a bit better again," says one trader. "We're seeing more prices and more enquiries, but the market is slow to come back."

    Yesterday's positive tone has continued into this morning on the back of improved macro sentiment. RMBS remains .......

    SCIWire 8 January 2015

  • FHA MIPs moved down

    The FHA's mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) are being lowered by 50bp. This brings policy risk back into the picture for RMBS investors, say Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts, as the FHA looks to maintain market share in the face of the GSEs' high-LTV programmes (SCI 9 December 2014).

    The MIP decreases will apply across the board and lower annual .......

    News 8 January 2015

  • Seeking knowledge

    FIA survey to unlock CCP transparency?

    Central counterparty transparency has come under the spotlight in recent months. A new survey of CCP risks could help forge a wider understanding of clearinghouse conduct and accountability, however.

    Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy partner John Williams is an advocate of increasing CCP oversight and supports ISDA's CCP adequacy principles (SCI 25 November 2014), which primarily call for clearinghouses to .......

    News Analysis 8 January 2015

  • Slow start for US CLOs

    US CLOs are starting the year slowly with relatively low levels of activity, but thus far are only slightly impacted by broader market volatility.

    "It's been slow since New Year, but CLOs seem to be holding in despite the volatility elsewhere over the last few days," says one trader. "In primary deals are currently being talked at tighter levels than .......

    SCIWire 7 January 2015
×