Complete news archive

  • Record high for CMBS 2.0 leverage

    US conduit CMBS loans had an average Moody's loan-to-value (MLTV) ratio of 107.3% in 1Q14, a record high for CMBS 2.0 deals, according to Moody's. In addition, the share of conduit loans that receive a Moody's cashflow haircut of greater than 10% has jumped from the low single-digits to the mid-teens. This is partly due to the inclusion of income .......

    News Round-up 22 April 2014

  • CMBS property auctions due

    Properties backing US$188m of distressed CMBS loans are scheduled for sale via Auction.com in May and early June. The largest loan with assets out for the bid is the US$113m Trinity Hotel Portfolio, securitised in BACM 2006-5, according to Barclays Capital CMBS analysts.

    From the Trinity portfolio, the Price Holiday Inn and the Renton Holiday Inn Select are scheduled for .......

    News Round-up 22 April 2014

  • ISDA ceo stepping down

    ISDA has announced that ceo Robert Pickel will step down later this year. In the meantime he will continue in office during a transition phase as the board looks to appoint a successor.

    Pickel has spent almost 17 years at ISDA, working in several different roles. He has played a central role in ISDA's adaptation to OTC derivatives reform and .......

    Job Swaps 22 April 2014

  • Swap rules proposed

    The US SEC has proposed new rules for security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap market participants. The proposal covers recordkeeping, reporting and notification requirements for security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants and would establish additional recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers to account for their security-based swap activities. Public comment on the proposed rules is invited for 60 days .......

    News Round-up 22 April 2014

  • Allstate ends RMBS lawsuit

    A stipulation of discontinuance has been filed in New York state court, ending a lawsuit brought by Allstate Insurance Company concerning US$167m of RMBS purchased from Merrill Lynch. The stipulation did not disclose a settlement amount, notes a Lowenstein Sandler memo.

    The lawsuit was filed in March 2011, when Allstate alleged that the quality of the loans which were underlying .......

    Job Swaps 22 April 2014

  • Autos boost ABS secondary supply

    An increase in US ABS bid-list supply yesterday was largely driven by auto ABS paper. BWIC volume reached around US$70m as equipment and whole business tranches also circulated.

    SCI's PriceABS data recorded several covers from the session as well as a range of price talk. Among those tranches was the FORDO 2013-B A3 tranche, which was .......

    Market Reports 22 April 2014

  • Diesel prices hit Indian ABS

    Fitch expects the performance of Indian ABS transactions backed by commercial vehicle (CV) loans to deteriorate further in the near term, after weakening significantly over 4Q13 and 1Q14. The deterioration has been affected by the general slowdown in the Indian economy and the significant hike in diesel prices, which have squeezed margins and undermined the debt-servicing capacity of CV loan .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2014

  • Tesco CDS wider on profit concerns

    Tesco's five-year credit default swaps have widened by 18% over the past month and by 48% since the beginning of the year, to trade at the widest levels observed since August 2012, according to Fitch Solutions in its latest case study. Worsening market sentiment for the food retailer has likely been driven by concerns over falling profits.

    "Over the past .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2014

  • Heavy hedge fund allocations continue

    Investors continued to allocate heavily into hedge funds in March. The US$18.3bn influx of new capital during the month lifted 1Q14 net flows to US$55.1bn, a level last surpassed in 2Q07, according to eVestment.

    Credit fund flows continue along an uneven, albeit positive path. Inflows of US$9.6bn in Q1 were higher than in 4Q13, although directional credit fund flows were .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2014

  • Monoline, bondholders gain settlement

    A settlement has been agreed between an ad hoc group of bondholders of nine FGIC-insured Countrywide RMBS trusts, Bank of America, FGIC, Freddie Mac and BNY Mellon. It will provide US$950m in cash payments to the RMBS trusts and FGIC to settle mortgage repurchase claims.

    The settlement is the first of its kind involving a monoline insurer and bondholders working .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2014

  • Unusual refi strategy highlighted

    Simon Property Group recently refinanced West Ridge Mall via a US$53.9m loan securitised in the COMM 2014-CCRE16 CMBS. The property was one of the first to be identified as part of the company's spin-off and had been expected to be difficult to refinance.

    West Ridge Mall was previously encumbered with nearly US$65m of outstanding debt securitised in BACM 2004-4. Morgan .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2014

  • Spark returns to US RMBS market

    US RMBS secondary market activity finally picked up yesterday, as a US$678m bid-list traded. Non-agency BWIC volume reached over US$1bn for the session, with SCI's PriceABS data capturing 80 unique RMBS bonds.

    Interactive Data notes that the US$678m list "has all the hallmarks of being from one of the GSEs", although nothing has been officially confirmed. .......

    Market Reports 17 April 2014

  • New benchmark needed?

    Meaningful shifts in cashflow, structure and collateral performance for GSMS 2007-GG10 may mean that consideration of other transactions as the benchmark US CMBS is warranted. Although the GG10 duper is still the largest in the sector, recent loan liquidations have seen a number of other tranches being written down.

    In fact, Interactive Data notes in its Monthly Market Insight publication .......

    News 17 April 2014

  • Second wave?

    NPL securitisation opportunity may be ending

    As legacy non-agency RMBS yields have largely dried up, investors have had to look elsewhere. Attractive absolute returns can be found in the non-performing loan (NPL) market, although the opportunity may be overplayed.

    Yield is undoubtedly a primary driver of investor interest in NPL securitisations. While US single-family rental transactions are achieving unexpectedly tight pricing for such a new asset .......

    News Analysis 16 April 2014

  • Credit picking

    CLO investing in an evolving regulatory environment discussed

    Representatives from Thomson Reuters, Prudential Fixed Income and Guggenheim Securities discussed the CLO investment landscape in an evolving regulatory environment during a live webinar hosted by SCI last month (view the webinar here). Topics included the impact of risk retention requirements and the Volcker Rule, as well as current drivers of relative value. This Q&A article highlights some .......

    Talking Point 16 April 2014

  • Fundamentals index remains stable

    The Fitch Fundamentals Index (FFI) remained stable for 1Q14 on trends including a bottoming-out of consumer credit delinquencies, a decline in the CDS outlook and an increase in corporate earnings and banking scores that are unlikely to be sustained in the longer term. Quarter-over-quarter, positive FFI component scores outweighed the negative by four to one, with five remaining at neutral.

    News Round-up 16 April 2014

  • Royal Decree impact examined

    DBRS says that changes to Spain's insolvency law, introduced last month (SCI 18 March), will not immediately impact its assumptions regarding defaults and recovery rates in the jurisdiction. However, the agency notes that the Royal Decree 4/2014 raises several questions as to how structured finance transactions will be impacted.

    In particular, DBRS points to a number of questions raised by .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2014

  • Key vet to lead real estate group

    KeyCorp has appointed Angela Mago to lead KeyBank Real Estate Capital and Community Development Lending. She will report to Christopher Gorman, Key Corporate Bank president.

    Mago has been at Key for 26 years, most recently leading the real estate capital markets team which has responsibility for originating, underwriting and distributing permanent mortgage financing through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and CMBS. .......

    Job Swaps 16 April 2014

  • Resets hasten Dutch RMBS CPRs

    European DataWarehouse (ED) loan-level data for Obvion's STORM programme suggests that forthcoming resets may affect Dutch RMBS CPRs significantly. This holds true even if those resets are up to two years away, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

    Dutch RMBS pools are generally dominated by fixed-rate mortgages that normally feature a reset period, during which the rate remains .......

    News 16 April 2014

  • Stable rating outlooks for APAC

    Fitch reports that over 97% of its Asia-Pacific structured finance rating actions in 1Q14 were affirmations, with eight upgrades and two downgrades accounting for the remaining rating actions. Of the 364 affirmations, 347 were from Australia and New Zealand.

    Australia also contributed all eight of the upgrades - to auto loan ABS, prime RMBS and non-conforming RMBS bonds - during .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2014

  • CBD office prices outperform

    The growth of central business district (CBD) office prices outpaced that of suburban office prices post-crisis in major US metro areas. CBD office prices appreciated by 106.5%, compared with 54.2% for suburban office prices, according to the latest Moody's/RCA CPPI report.

    "After hitting their post-crisis troughs, central business district office prices far outperformed prices of their suburban office counterparts by .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2014
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