Complete news archive

  • BGC bid re-extended

    BGC Partners has extended the expiration date of its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of GFI Group that it does not currently own. The offer is now scheduled to expire on 6 January 2015, having previously been extended to 9 December (SCI 24 November).

    The company also reaffirms that it has satisfied the regulatory closing condition .......

    Job Swaps 10 December 2014

  • RMBS supply on the rise

    US non-agency RMBS bid-list supply picked up strongly yesterday to more than US$800m. Subprime and Alt-A collateral led the way, although several pieces did fail to trade.

    SCI's PriceABS data captured a long list of names out for the bid, all from pre-crisis deals. Among the earliest of these was the MSAC 2003-NC10 M3 tranche, which .......

    Market Reports 10 December 2014

  • Debut Entropics fund authorised

    The first catastrophe bond fund managed by a Scandinavian manager, Entropics, has been authorised by the Luxembourg financial supervisory authority (the CSSF) and passported into the Swedish market. SEF Entropics Cat Bond Fund is UCITS-compliant and has been established via the Luxembourg fund company of Swedbank, to provide a solid infrastructure for the fund and independent valuation of its assets.

    News Round-up 10 December 2014

  • RFC issued on NSFR disclosure

    The Basel Committee has issued for consultation its net stable funding ratio (NSFR) disclosure standards, following the recent publication of the NSFR standard (SCI 3 November). Similar to the LCR disclosure framework, this requirement aims to improve the transparency of regulatory funding requirements, strengthen market discipline and reduce uncertainty in the markets as the NSFR is implemented.

    To promote the .......

    News Round-up 10 December 2014

  • Dutch prime outperforms

    The European ABS/MBS markets are remaining quiet with Dutch prime the only highlight.

    "Client activity is close to zero and that may be it for the year," says one trader. "There are a few sellers here and there and consequently some BWICs, but volumes and liquidity are quite low."

    Except for ECB-eligible assets prices are weaker across deal types, with .......

    SCIWire 10 December 2014

  • US CLOs stay quiet

    It's another quiet day in the US CLO secondary market today and the trend could continue.

    "There are a couple of bid lists out, but there really isn't a whole lot of trading going on," says one trader. "We've got a few people off the desk at the California conference and we still aren't busy."

    There are a few more .......

    SCIWire 9 December 2014

  • Economy bolsters SLABS outlook

    The improving economy will bolster the credit quality and performance of US private student loan (PSL) and FFELP ABS, according to Moody's 2015 outlook. Default rates on PSL pools should continue to decline, with rates at pre-recession levels, while Moody's PSL default rate index dropped below 2.5% for the first time since 2006 in 3Q14.

    "Defaults will fall further because .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • ICE sells Euronext stake

    ICE has priced the placement of 4.2 million shares in Euronext, approximately 6% of the exchange's share capital, by way of an accelerated book-building to institutional investors. The gross proceeds to ICE from the sale will amount to €96.8m.

    Following the sale, which is expected to close on 11 December, ICE will no longer hold any of Euronext's share capital and voting .......

    Job Swaps 9 December 2014

  • LMI assessment criteria unveiled

    S&P has published its methodology for assessing lenders' mortgage insurance (LMI) and similar guarantees as a form of credit enhancement in global RMBS, global covered bonds and debt ratings in the US municipal housing sector. The agency believes the new framework will provide additional transparency to its ratings, while also enhancing comparability across sectors and geographies.

    S&P expects the rating .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • Make-whole payments received

    The Merrill Lynch RMBS MANA 2007-A2 and MLMI 2007-MLN1 respectively saw over US$8m and US$15m of subsequent recoveries in November's remittance. Most of the recoveries comprised make-whole loss payments, according to Barclays Capital RMBS analysts, and were made on only one of the collateral groups - group 2 for MLMI 2007-MLN1 and group 3 for MANA 2007-A2. Bank of America .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • RFC issued on CRE loan approach

    Moody's is seeking feedback on a proposed approach for rating CRE loans that are not part of a securitisation structure in EMEA. Under the proposal, the rating agency will apply in the CRE loan analysis the same approach as applied for loans securitised in EMEA CMBS transactions.

    In addition, Moody's will consider in its rating analysis the differences between CRE .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • GSEs offer lower down payment loans

    The GSEs have released guidelines for offering 95%-97% LTV mortgages. The product is expected to pull loans away from the FHA, resulting in adverse selection for FHA loans.

    FHFA director Mel Watt originally announced in October that the loan limit for the GSEs would increase (SCI 21 October). For Fannie Mae, the product will be available from 13 December, while .......

    News 9 December 2014

  • CMBX ratings eligibility broadened

    A rules change regarding the eligibility requirement for Markit CMBX reference obligations has been approved. The new language changes the applicable rating definition to only require ratings from at least two of Fitch, Moody's, S&P, DBRS, Kroll or Morningstar.

    The prior language stipulated that a bond must have a Fitch, Moody's or S&P rating. Bank of America Merrill Lynch CMBS .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • First downgrade for CMBS 2.0

    In what is believed to be the first case of a US CMBS 2.0 downgrade, Moody's has lowered five and affirmed seven classes of JPMCC 2010-C1. Approximately US$469m of bonds is affected by the move, which has been triggered by performance concerns.

    Moody's has downgraded by several notches the P&I classes E (US$16.1m), F (US$9m), G (US$7.2m) and H (US$6.3m), .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • Balloon date pay-offs inch higher

    The percentage of US CMBS loans paying off on their balloon date inched up in November to 75.6%, according to Trepp. This reading is over three points higher than the October rate of 72.5%.

    The rate is also above the 12-month moving average of 68.3%. The highest rate in the last five years was in November 2013, when pay-offs totalled .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • MHA incentives enhanced

    The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Treasury have enhanced the Making Home Affordable (MHA) programme to better assist struggling homeowners and communities still recovering from the effects of the financial crisis. The enhancements are designed to motivate homeowners in the MHA to continue making their mortgage payments on time, strengthen the safety net for .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • European ABS/MBS bolstered

    European ABS/MBS markets have been bolstered by signs of ECB buying.

    Despite yesterday's disappointing ABSPP number, euro ABS/MBS spreads have stayed firm into this morning on the back of talk of ECB buying picking up this week. "We hear some Italian RMBS has been bought," says one trader. "We're not going much tighter as a result, but it seems a .......

    SCIWire 9 December 2014

  • Longevity basis risk tackled

    The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and Life and Longevity Markets Association (LLMA) have released a readily-applicable methodology allowing insurers and pension schemes to assess longevity basis risk. The jointly-commissioned research project - which was undertaken by a joint research team from Hymans Robertson and Cass Business School - aims to enable the use of simpler, more standardised and .......

    News Round-up 9 December 2014

  • CMBS supply steps up

    After quiet sessions in the middle (SCI 4 December) and end of last week, US CMBS bid-list volume was over US$200m yesterday. Secondary spreads were mixed, with supply split between pre- and post-crisis names.

    SCI's PriceABS data captured more than 30 unique US CMBS tranches out for the bid, with cover prices recorded for around a .......

    Market Reports 9 December 2014

  • Reg AB 2 in review

    Shelf-eligibility and data disclosure discussed

    Representatives from Lewtan and Dentons recently discussed the considerations for implementing Regulation AB 2 in a live webinar hosted by SCI (view the webinar here). Topics included privacy concerns, data requirements and practical implications going forward.

    Q: What is the background to Regulation AB 2?
    A:     Ned Myers, svp, Lewtan: Reg AB 2 rules were initially proposed back in 2010 .......

    Talking Point 9 December 2014

  • Electronic trading pro hired

    Eugene Tutunikov has joined Morgan Stanley as a senior consultant to its credit trading unit. He joins from Citi, where he was vp of credit algorithmic trading, specialising in credit derivatives.

    .......

    Job Swaps 8 December 2014
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