Complete news archive

  • Global RMBS claims settled

    American International Group has reached a global resolution of its RMBS-related disputes with Bank of America. The resolution also covers AIG's obligations to the US$8.5bn settlement of Countrywide's mortgage repurchase obligations to various investors (SCI passim) as well as disputes concerning the issuance of mortgage guaranty insurance by AIG's United Guaranty subsidiaries to Bank of America and Countrywide.

    AIG will .......

    Job Swaps 17 July 2014

  • Alternative GSE bill proposed

    Democrats in the US House of Representatives have proposed a bill to wind down the GSEs and provide an explicit government guarantee while increasing private sector participation in the market. The Partnership to Strengthen Homeownership Act has been proposed by John Delaney, Jim Himes and John Carney.

    SFIG notes that the bill would preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage and .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2014

  • ESAIL picks highlighted

    2007-vintage Eurosail RMBS continue to attract headlines due to their unhedged FX exposure and associated restructuring activity (SCI passim). Nevertheless, European asset-backed analysts at JPMorgan suggest that ESAIL bonds offer interesting entry points for a range of investors, given the varied mix of currencies, ratings, WALs and risk profiles on offer.

    Although only established in 2006, the ESAIL programme is .......

    News 16 July 2014

  • Asset manager adds senior advisor

    Assenagon has appointed Christian Maria Kreuser as a senior advisor for fund management and structured investment management. He will focus on expanding business for the asset management firm and on advising investors on real estate assets.

    Kreuser has more than 20 years of experience in the asset management and banking industry. He was most recently a member of the management .......

    Job Swaps 16 July 2014

  • Definitions' economic impact projected

    The 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions contain a number of changes that are likely to impact the economic value of new financial CDS contracts, potentially bringing them more in line with the economics of the underlying cash bonds. JPMorgan credit derivative strategists consequently argue that any projections of where the new CDS contracts will trade should take cash bond pricing .......

    News 16 July 2014

  • Credit vet moves on

    Peter McLaughlin has joined mid-market specialist Medley Capital in New York. He joins from CIFC, where he was a capital markets md.

    McLaughlin has more than two decades of loan origination, structuring, underwriting and investing experience in debt and equity markets. Before CIFC he was head of originations for Longroad Asset Management and also led loan origination at Gottex Fund .......

    Job Swaps 16 July 2014

  • ILS diversification eyed

    In sharp contrast to December when seven catastrophe bonds priced with a spread of 625bp or greater and a weighted average expected loss above 300bp, 1H14 saw approximately two-thirds of 26 classes issued with an EL of less than 130bp and a new issue spread of 400bp or lower, Swiss Re reports in its latest market update. US wind remained .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • ABS CDO on the block

    An auction has been scheduled for Birch Real Estate CDO I on 23 July. The collateral shall only be sold if the sale proceeds are greater than or equal to the auction call redemption amount.

    .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • RFC issued on muni CDOs

    Moody's is seeking comments from market participants on its proposed rating approach for CDOs backed by diversified pools of US municipal and international sub-sovereign debt. If adopted, the proposal will have a minimal impact of no more than one notch up or down on the ratings of two outstanding US muni CDOs.

    The proposed approach includes assumptions about recovery rates .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • WaMu case progressing?

    JPMorgan and FDIC have filed their motions for summary judgement in the Washington Mutual rep and warranty lawsuit. The replies to the motions are due by 5 September, after which the judge's order is due.

    JPMorgan is reportedly arguing that it assumed only repurchase obligations that were recorded in WaMu's books at the time of acquisition, but the FDIC argues .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • SLABS bring secondary market boost

    US ABS BWIC volume reached around US$200m yesterday, with student loan and credit card bonds driving issuance higher than it had been to start the week. Much of the supply came from a US$108m list of FFELP bonds.

    SCI's PriceABS data captured a wealth of student loan tranches circulating on yesterday's bid-lists. Among them was the ACCSS 2005-2 B tranche, .......

    Market Reports 16 July 2014

  • SIV bid-list trades

    US non-agency RMBS supply has been scarce so far this week, with the focus dominated entirely by the US$3.7bn pre-announced BWIC that traded yesterday. Credit Suisse is understood to have successfully bid for the list, which comprised 179 legacy predominantly subprime and home equity bonds.

    The seller is said to be a SIV controlled by UBS. BlackRock Solutions was hired .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • Total return CLO index introduced

    JPMorgan has launched the first rules-based daily observable pricing and total return index for US dollar-denominated broadly-syndicated arbitrage CLO debt. The Collateralized Loan Obligation Index (CLOIE) is intended to enhance transparency and act as a potential returns benchmark for the CLO sector.

    The aggregate index contains 3,310 cusips from 679 CLOs, as of 30 June, representing US$236.1bn in par value .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2014

  • MAR consultation underway

    ESMA has launched a consultation on the new Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), which entered into force on 2 July. The authority is issuing two consultation papers seeking stakeholders' views on the draft regulatory and implementing technical standards (RTS/ITS) and Technical Advice (TA) that it has to develop for the new MAR framework that is applicable in July 2016.

    The draft .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • FpML updated ahead of new definitions

    ISDA has published its recommendation for FpML version 5.7. Among the latest enhancements made to the FpML standard is coverage of package transactions. Version 5.7 also electronically represents the Standardised Credit Support Annex (SCSA) document and supports the ISDA 2014 Credit Derivatives Definitions.

    The upcoming version 5.8 will focus further on product standardisation in FX derivatives, together with the coverage .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • Cash-out refinancings supported

    Profiting from the strong post-crisis price recovery, investors who bought commercial properties from mid-2009 to early 2011 can typically pull out all of their cash equity via refinancing, according to the latest Moody's/RCA CPPI Index report. Investors who acquired properties through 2004 can also do so.

    "Assuming a 70% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio on the both the original loan and the .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • Canadian home prices 'overvalued'

    Canadian home prices remain overvalued relative to historical macroeconomic fundamental drivers, according to Fitch. Home prices rose by 7.1% in May year-over-year, with both property sales and building permits for residential construction picking up in recent months.

    Home prices also continue to be supported by historically low interest rates and a lack of supply in the major metropolitan areas - .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • FFELP portfolio sales anticipated

    Wells Fargo last week announced that it transferred its US$9.7bn FFELP student loan portfolio to held-for-sale during Q2. Fitch suggests that the move - when considered alongside CIT Group's sale of its US$3.6bn FFELP portfolio to Nelnet in April - may signal that the market has finally reached an inflection point.

    The agency believes that to date banks have been .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • WPG taps CMBS financing

    Simon Property Group formally completed its spin-off of 54 strip centres and 44 malls to Washington Prime Group (WPG) at the end of May. CMBS strategists at Morgan Stanley report that the new entity financed seven of these properties with US$410m of debt securitised in 2014-vintage CMBS 2.0 deals, meaning that 26 properties are now encumbered by a total of .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • Restructuring firm expands into Asia

    Zolfo Cooper has opened an office in Hong Kong, to be led be Bruno Arboit. The office will provide restructuring, insolvency, forensic accounting and litigation support services and is the advisory firm's first Zolfo Cooper-branded office in the Asia Pacific region, complementing an affiliation with Ferrier Hodgson.

    Arboit has 16 years of experience in the local market, most recently as .......

    Job Swaps 15 July 2014

  • Citi settles RMBS, CDO claims

    Citigroup has agreed to settle an ongoing investigation by the RMBS Working Group. The agreement resolves actual and potential civil claims by the US DOJ, several state attorneys general and the FDIC relating to RMBS and CDOs issued, structured or underwritten by Citi between 2003 and 2008.

    Citi will pay US$4.5bn in cash - including a US$4bn civil monetary payment .......

    Job Swaps 15 July 2014
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