Complete news archive

  • 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

  • Russian LMI rules defined

    The Russian State Duma last month approved a number of amendments to several articles of the Federal Law On Mortgages, including defining lender's mortgage insurance (LMI) in the event of borrower default and clarification of creditors' rights. Moody's notes that such changes are credit positive for future Russian RMBS issuance as they limit losses for investors, while also potentially improving .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • FDIC auction due

    The first in a series of private FDIC bank Trups CDO auctions has been scheduled for 17 July (SCI 24 June). The sale comprises US$48.25m original face of mezzanine bonds from the PRETSL 9 (B1, B2 and B3 tranches), 10 (B1 and B3), and 12 (B1, B2 and B3), as well as USCAP 1 (B1) and USCAP 2 (B1) transactions. .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • Servicing guidance slated

    The FHFA is set to issue guidance by 1 December aimed at ensuring that non-bank servicers meet current servicing requirements. The move follows the release of an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report identifying broad problems in the mortgage servicing industry.

    SFIG notes that some of these problems include: non-bank mortgage servicers taking on more loans than they can handle; .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2014

  • Accelerated evolution

    Rapid pace of change as CLO market grows

    US CLO issuance has reached record pace this year, as innovations driven by both regulatory demands and investor behaviour ensure that the product continues to develop. Deal sizes have grown, structures have evolved and new managers have tapped the market.

    "When we came out of the financial crisis, the deals that jump-started the market and this continuous upward trend were .......

    News Analysis 15 July 2014

  • Monolines widen on Puerto Rico exposure

    Puerto Rico's debt woes are driving credit default swap spreads wider for two of the largest monoline insurers, according to the latest CDS case study from Fitch Solutions. Five-year CDS on Assured Guaranty Municipal Corporation (66%) and MBIA Inc (73%) have widened notably in recent weeks.

    CDS liquidity for both Assured and MBIA remains high, currently in the third and .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • Greek sovereign ceiling lifted

    Fitch has upgraded 15 tranches of seven Greek RMBS transactions, removing them from rating watch positive. Following the upgrade of the sovereign issuer default rating to single-B outlook stable and subsequent upgrade of the country ceiling to double-B in May, the agency increased the maximum achievable rating for Greek structured finance transactions to double-B to reflect the improvement in the .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • Japanese bank appoints CLO pro

    Steve Kahn has joined the CLO team at Mizuho Securities as an executive director in New York. He was most recently president and executive officer at Invicta Financial.

    Kahn was formerly at Babson Capital Management and served as group head for CDOs and CDS at Financial Security Assurance. He has also worked at Paine Webber and Ernst & Young.

    .......

    Job Swaps 14 July 2014

  • Sharp fall for industrial late-pays

    US CMBS delinquencies fell by 10bp in June to 4.87% from 4.97% a month earlier, marking the fifteenth straight month of declines, according to Fitch's latest index results for the sector. In particular, the agency notes that the industrial late-pay rate fell sharply (by 65bp), which brings the rates for all major property types to below 6% for the first .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • Cantor boosts RMBS team

    Cantor Fitzgerald has expanded its MBS sales and trading team with the appointments of Cass Tokarski and James Murray, who each join from RBS. Tokarski becomes senior md and head of mortgages and ABS, while Murray joins as md, focussing on agency ARM trading.

    Tokarski ran the CMO business at RBS and has also worked at UBS and Goldman Sachs. .......

    Job Swaps 14 July 2014

  • CLO origination vehicle planned

    Blackstone/GSO is set to list a CLO origination vehicle - dubbed Blackstone/GSO Loan Financing (BGLF) - on the London Stock Exchange's Specialist Fund Market. The company will invest in a portfolio of assets comprising predominantly of European senior secured loans and CLO income notes issued by CLOs that are managed by Blackstone/GSO Debt Funds Management Europe.

    Specifically, the new fund .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • UCITS cat bond fund prepped

    Entropics Asset Management has been licensed by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority to undertake discretionary portfolio management, becoming the first asset manager specialising in catastrophe bonds to be authorised in the country. The firm is also one of the first ten managers worldwide to offer UCITS-compliant cat bond funds.

    Entropics can now assume discretionary management assignments. It also plans to .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • Partnership expands analytics access

    Linedata and InvestSoft Technology have formed a strategic partnership through which Linedata will provide comprehensive fixed income and credit derivative analytics to the asset management community. The partnership means that Linedata's Longview and compliance clients can now access InvestSoft's BondPro soluition.

    Linedata offers a multi-asset integrated global approach to portfolio management, trading and compliance for institutional and alternative asset managers. .......

    Job Swaps 14 July 2014

  • FVPO expenses clarified

    C-III Asset Management has issued a clarification pertaining to the US$60.8m Rock Point Corporate Center loan securitised in CD 2006-CD2. The move is in response to a recent note published by Morgan Stanley's CMBS research team highlighting that an affiliate of the special servicer exercised a fair value purchase option (FVPO) on the asset for US$52.1m in May.

    The Morgan .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2014

  • Irish restructuring team acquired

    Duff & Phelps has acquired the restructuring and insolvency division of RSM Farrell Grant Sparks (RSM FGS). The unit provides advisory services to local, regional and global businesses throughout Ireland and internationally.

    RSM FGS restructuring and insolvency partners Declan Taite, Pearse Farrell and Anne O'Dwyer will lead Duff & Phelps' restructuring practice in Ireland and support client access to the .......

    Job Swaps 14 July 2014

  • Rating agency liability confirmed

    The Full Federal Court of Australia last month dismissed an appeal by S&P, ABN Amro and Local Government Financial Services (LGFS) against a decision in favour of a group of New South Wales councils regarding the marketing and sale of Rembrandt CPDO notes (SCI 6 November 2012). The court also extended Justice Jane Jagot's original decision to rule that each .......

    Job Swaps 14 July 2014

  • SCI Start the Week - 14 July

    A look at the major activity in structured finance over the past seven days

    Pipeline
    Several deals were added to the pipeline last week, including a large number of CLOs. As well as four ABS, three RMBS and two CMBS there were nine new CLOs sitting in the pipeline at the week's end.

    The ABS were US$385m Consumers 2014 Securitization Funding, US$722m Dell Equipment Finance Trust 2014-1, €259.7m German Mittelstand Equipment Finance No.2 and ¥12bn .......

    News 14 July 2014

  • Euro ABS activity encouraging

    The seasonal summer slowdown has not yet set in for the European ABS market. While the secondary market might be softening a little, activity in the primary market continues at good levels.

    "We are still seeing new deals being announced in the market so we have got a few weeks more to go before things get quiet. It is an active .......

    Market Reports 11 July 2014

  • Structured pro becomes partner

    Hollis Park Partners has appointed Taranjit Sabharwal as a portfolio manager and partner. He brings broad experience across structured products.

    Sabharwal was previously an md at Deutsche Bank, where he ran the credit business within CMBS trading. He also has experience in CLOs, CDOs and RMBS. He has also worked at HSBC and Bear Stearns.

    .......

    Job Swaps 11 July 2014

  • ILS leader takes top job

    HSZ Group has named Stefan Kräuchi as ceo and partner. He joined the company two years ago and has been leading its dedicated ILS business, ILS Advisers.

    Kräuchi is based in Hong Kong. Among his previous roles he has been a member of the executive board at Clariden Leu and ceo at AIG Fund Management in Zurich and held several .......

    Job Swaps 11 July 2014

  • Asset manager names SF head

    AXA Investment Managers has appointed Deborah Shire as head of structured finance, effective from September. She will be based in Paris and report to John Porter, global head of fixed income and structured finance at AXA IM.

    Shire replaces Laurent Gueunier and is currently global head of business development for AXA Real Estate. She has been with AXA since 1996 .......

    Job Swaps 11 July 2014
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