Complete news archive

  • CMBS maturity spike expected

    US CMBS loan maturities will spike in 2Q15 following a measured start to the year, says Fitch. The agency notes US$3.7bn of US CMBS loans in Fitch-rated transactions are scheduled to mature in 1Q15, jumping to US$9.7bn in 2Q15 and to US$12bn in each of 3Q15 and 4Q15.

    In addition, US$64.6bn worth of loans in 2016 is expected to mature, .......

    News Round-up 22 December 2014

  • Agency shareholder base broadens

    Scope Corporation has raised its number of shareholders from 10 to 29, with a share capital increase of €2.5m fully subscribed by German investors. Scope intends to accelerate the "Europeanisation" of its rating business and has opened a second tranche of capital raising to European investors.

    Senior management participated in the first tranche and founder Florian Schoeller retains a majority .......

    Job Swaps 22 December 2014

  • RMBS lowered on sovereign downgrade

    S&P has lowered its credit ratings on 84 tranches in 47 Italian RMBS transactions. This follows the rating agency lowering its unsolicited long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on the country.

    Following the sovereign downgrade, S&P has based its subsequent rating actions in these Italian RMBS transactions on the application of its updated criteria for rating single-jurisdiction securitisations above the .......

    News Round-up 22 December 2014

  • GFI bid increased

    BGC Partners has increased its fully financed, all-cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of GFI Group (SCI passim) to US$5.45 per share. The tender offer is scheduled to expire on 6 January 2015.

    The company has also reduced the minimum tender condition to 45% of the outstanding shares of GFI common stock, inclusive of the approximately .......

    Job Swaps 22 December 2014

  • Canadian ABS, RMBS to stay strong

    The credit quality and performance of Canadian ABS and RMBS will continue to be strong in 2015, according to Moody's. The agency largely attributes this to an improving domestic economy.

    "For credit card ABS, rising GDP growth and declining unemployment will bolster collateral performance," says Moody's vp and senior analyst Richard Hunt. "These factors will also reduce delinquency levels and .......

    News Round-up 22 December 2014

  • GSE vet joins Redwood

    Redwood Trust has added Karen Pallotta to its board of directors. She was at Fannie Mae for more than 20 years until her retirement in 2011.

    Pallotta served in various roles at the GSE, most recently as evp of its single family credit guaranty business. She was directly responsible for Fannie Mae's single family mortgage business, comprising more than US$2.5trn .......

    Job Swaps 22 December 2014

  • ILS expert joins board

    Clive O'Connell has joined Twelve Capital's board of directors as vice-chairman and a non-executive independent member of the board. He will serve alongside board chairman Urs Ramseier, who relocated to London earlier this year (SCI 7 October).

    O'Connell is the lead partner of Goldberg Segalla's London office. He is also currently general counsel and board member of the International Insurance .......

    Job Swaps 22 December 2014

  • Venture debt ABS approach updated

    Moody's has republished its global methodology for rating SME balance sheet securitisations primarily to incorporate its approach to rating venture debt transactions. The agency says that the publication of the formal methodology will not result in any changes to ratings of any outstanding securities backed by venture debt.

    Moody's originally published a request for comment on its approach to rating .......

    News Round-up 22 December 2014

  • Solitary CLO list circulating

    Only one US CLO BWIC is currently scheduled for today and reflects the most active sectors of the market last week amid some spread softening - triple-Bs and equity.

    The 13 line list due at 11:00 New York time also falls into line with last week's pattern in that it is small with only $12.575m of original face on offer. .......

    SCIWire 22 December 2014

  • DBRS buyout agreed

    The Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus, in partnership with a consortium of Canadian-based investors - including DBRS founder Walter Schroeder and DBRS management - have agreed to acquire DBRS. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in 1Q15, were not disclosed.

    Schroeder will remain an important investor in DBRS. He comments: "While our Canadian franchise and culture will .......

    Job Swaps 22 December 2014

  • RFC issued on life insurance ABS

    Moody's is seeking comments on its proposed approach to monitoring life insurance ABS. The agency says that the approach, if adopted, will not have any impact on the outstanding ratings of life insurance ABS.

    The proposed methodology entails a quantitative and qualitative approach to analyse life insurance ABS transactions with or without the support of supplemental policies, while accounting for .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Portfolio repurchase 'credit positive'

    Moody's believes that Catalunya Banc's repurchase of problematic Spanish mortgage loan portfolios from seven securitisations it originated and retained is credit positive for the transactions because it has improved the credit quality of the underlying collateral pools and increased available credit enhancement to some notes. The bank repurchased 6,208 mortgages in the amount of €762.83m in June ahead of a .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • CLO, CLN, ABCP RFCs released

    ARC Ratings has released RFCs on its CLO, CLN and ABCP methodologies. The rating agency encourages market participants to provide comments or feedback no later than 18 January 2015.

    The CLO, CLN and ABCP methodologies under review each apply globally. There is currently no rating impact from ARC's proposed changes.

    .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Auto losses up but historically low

    Losses were up for both US prime and subprime auto loan ABS last month. Subprime losses were higher than they have been since early 2010, according to the latest monthly index results from Fitch.

    Subprime auto loan ABS losses moved 4.6% higher to 7.96% in November. Annualised net losses (ANL) for prime auto ABS also moved higher, but are still .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • ESMA publishes MiFID update

    ESMA has published its final technical advice and launched a consultation on its draft regulatory technical standards and implementing standards for the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR). The new regulatory framework aims at ensuring that secondary markets are fair, transparent and safe and that investors' interests are safeguarded when being sold investment products.

    Key proposals stemming from .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Volcker extension for covered funds

    The US Fed has acted under the Volcker Rule to give banking entities until 21 July 2016 to conform investments in, and relationships with, covered funds and foreign funds that were in place prior to 3 December 2013. The board also intends to act next year to grant banking entities an additional one-year extension of the conformation period until 21 .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Treveria portfolio acquired

    Sunrise Properties has acquired the Treveria Silo E Portfolio, also known as Project Sunrise. The portfolio includes 127 mainly commercial real-estate (CRE) assets across prime locations in Germany.

    The portfolio was underpinned by the Orange Loan within the Talisman 6 CMBS, which had an unpaid whole loan balance of approximately €380m. BNP Paribas Real Estate valued the portfolio at €394.9m .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Lack of TRIPRA sparks CMBS worry

    The failure of the US Congress to renew government-sponsored terrorism reinsurance could have repercussions for commercial real estate (CRE) in 2015, according to Fitch. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA) is slated to expire at the end of this year.

    TRIPRA is an important component of the CMBS market and has become common in many transactions. If it is not .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • Economy spurs CMBS on

    The macro economy and low interest rates contributed to continued growth in the commercial real estate (CRE) and securitisation markets this year, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Property fundamentals for most CRE segments improved, fuelling the appetite for CMBS investment.

    The agency notes that credit standards continued to ease as demand increased, with competition between loan originators progressing throughout .......

    News Round-up 19 December 2014

  • CRE underwriting vet moves on

    Morgan Stanley has added George Kok as an md in its commercial real estate (CRE) lending group. He will work on securitised and portfolio mortgages and will report to Jim Flaum, md and global head of CRE lending.

    Kok arrives from Ladder Capital, where he was chief of underwriting. He will officially join Morgan Stanley in 1Q15.

    .......

    Job Swaps 19 December 2014

  • ILS merger discussions begin

    XL Group is in discussions with Catlin Group regarding a potential transaction to acquire the company and form a combined entity. The transaction would require approval by the boards of directors of each company and would be subject to various shareholder and regulatory approvals.

    The combined entity would be a leader in the global speciality and property cat markets. However, .......

    Job Swaps 19 December 2014
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