Complete news archive

  • New manager variation examined

    Moody's reports in its latest CLO Interest publication that it assigned ratings to deals from another six managers that are new to the US CLO market between July 2013 and March 2014, bringing the total number of new managers that issued deals post-2011 to 24 and the count of deals under their management to 52. The agency notes that new .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • Clearing due for Euro sovereigns

    ICE Clear Europe is set to introduce clearing for Western European Sovereign Credit Default Swaps on 28 April, following receipt of regulatory approval. Becoming the first clearinghouse to clear such contracts, ICE Clear Europe will begin clearing US dollar-denominated CDS on Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

    The clearer has extended its existing CDS risk model and margin methodology to clear .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • Housing reform bill weighed

    Several provisions in the comprehensive housing finance reform bill introduced by US Senators Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo would help spur issuance of private-label RMBS (SCI 12 March), according to Moody's. At the same time, the bill is expected to modestly dampen prices of multifamily properties and increase CMBS refinance risk.

    Under the framework proposed in Johnson-Crapo, fewer residential mortgage .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • CMBS criteria updated, back-tested

    Fitch has published a criteria exposure draft for rating CMBS and loans in EMEA secured on investment property, including multifamily apartment blocks. The exposure draft includes a widening of criteria to include loan ratings, enhanced disclosure on the setting of key real estate assumptions, guidance ranges for those key assumptions and greater insight into Fitch's analysis of contracted income.

    The .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • SLM split scheduled

    Sallie Mae's board has formally approved the separation of its loan servicing business line from its consumer banking business. The loan servicing entity will be called Navient, while the consumer banking business will retain the Sallie Mae brand.

    The split is scheduled for 30 April, with the separation achieved via a dividend distribution to Sallie Mae shareholders on 22 April. .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • Loan defaults hit post-2008 lows

    US CMBS loan defaults dropped for the fourth consecutive year and to their lowest level since 2008, according to Fitch's annual US CMBS loan default study. The agency reported an annual default rate of 0.9% for CMBS in 2013, compared with 1.2% in 2012.

    "The broader commercial real estate markets are stabilising and healthy new CMBS issuance volume is providing .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • RFC issued on bilateral margining

    The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have launched a consultation on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) outlining risk management procedures for counterparties in non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives, the criteria concerning intra-group exemptions and the definitions of practical and legal impediments under EMIR. The draft RTS prescribe that counterparties apply robust risk mitigation techniques to their bilateral relationships, which will include mandatory .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2014

  • 'Cheap' Euro CMBS lacks buyers

    There was a lot of price talk on European CMBS tranches in the secondary market yesterday, but a lack of trades as the market winds down for Easter. CMBS looks cheap compared to RMBS but investors remain reluctant to get involved.

    "The Street has been a bit more active over the last couple of weeks but we are still seeing .......

    Market Reports 15 April 2014

  • Decisive action

    Katie Skeels, associate at Hogan Lovells, examines current t...

    Hogan Lovells recently published a report - entitled 'Global Currents - Trends in Complex Cross-Border Disputes 2014' - which surveys current trends in cross-border disputes. The results suggest that senior executives and in-house counsel are proactively developing their dispute management strategies, including for securitisations, to suit the increasingly global business landscape.

    In an increasingly globalised economy, there are significant benefits .......

    Talking Point 15 April 2014

  • SCI Start the Week - 14 April

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

    Pipeline
    A number of new deals were announced last week. In total, eight ABS, three ILS, three RMBS and six CLOs were added to the pipeline by the end of the week.

    The newly-announced ABS were: US$151.739m BCC Funding VIII Series 2014-1; US$777.87m Capital Auto Receivables Asset Trust 2014-2; US$215m MMCA Auto Owner Trust 2014-1; US$912.423m Spirit Master Funding .......

    News 14 April 2014

  • NSFR framework critiqued

    The Basel Committee's amended proposal for a minimum standard ratio for bank funding would introduce globally harmonised requirements that would potentially reduce funding mismatches, according to S&P. The agency adds, however, that the proposals contain some potential inconsistencies and gaps - and that the planned timeline for their implementation in January 2018 is slow.

    These observations form part of S&P's .......

    News Round-up 14 April 2014

  • Chinese leasing ABS eyed

    Amendments to rules for financial leasing companies in China look set to make leasing ABS deals possible in the jurisdiction, Fitch suggests. The rules should strengthen the operating environment for leasing companies and limit the risk of originator/servicer default.

    The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) recently released amended 'Administrative Measures for Financial Leasing Companies', which aim to encourage new entrants .......

    News Round-up 14 April 2014

  • Energy efficiency programme launched

    A US public-private partnership has been formed to facilitate lower-cost loans for home energy efficiency improvements. Dubbed the Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL), the aim is to open up the sector to large institutional investors by harnessing securitisation technology.

    WHEEL is the product of a years-long collaboration between Citi, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, Renewable Funding, the Energy Programs Consortium, .......

    News Round-up 14 April 2014

  • Willis boosts Europe, Asia teams

    Willis Capital Markets & Advisory has hired Quentin Perrot in London and Rui Huang in Hong Kong. The pair will significantly boost the firm's capabilities in Europe and Asia.

    Perrot joins as ILS vp, moving over from BNP Paribas, where he led the origination and structuring of ILS on a global basis. Before that he worked at the bank as .......

    Job Swaps 14 April 2014

  • Asset sales drive delinquencies lower

    US CMBS delinquencies fell sharply again last month as more CWCapital bulk asset sales were booked and delinquency rates for the major property types converged, according to Fitch's latest index results for the sector. CMBS late-pays fell by 27bp in March to 5.16% from 5.43% a month earlier, while just 1.59 percentage points separated the property type with the lowest .......

    News Round-up 14 April 2014

  • Call for action on 'high quality' ABS

    The ECB and the Bank of England (BoE) last Friday published a joint paper, which concludes that securitisation is an important complementary funding tool to support the real economy. In their analysis of the European ABS market, the central banks observe that current regulatory treatment of securitisation has been unduly conservative and recommend accelerating the promotion of 'high-quality' securitisation in .......

    News Round-up 14 April 2014

  • Direct lending fund closed

    Benefit Street Partners (BSP) has announced the final closing of its middle market direct lending fund, Providence Debt Fund III. The fund was substantially oversubscribed, with demand surpassing its US$1.75bn hard cap.

    The fund received commitments from many existing and new investors, including state and corporate pensions, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and other high net-worth individuals. "We believe that .......

    News Round-up 11 April 2014

  • QE impact weighed

    If the ECB were to buy senior tranches of SME securitisations - for example, under a quantitative easing (QE) programme - it could help revive private investor interest in the sector and provide additional funding to banks for business lending, Fitch says. However, this would depend on the price the ECB is willing to pay for senior tranches.

    European SME .......

    News Round-up 11 April 2014

  • Post-crisis RMBS delinquencies 'near zero'

    Delinquency rates on recently issued US RMBS remain near zero nearly four years after the first post-crisis transaction was completed, according to Fitch's new US prime jumbo RMBS monthly trends report. Of the roughly 20,000 loans securitised since the start of 2010, only two loans are currently over 60 days delinquent. When loans that are only one payment behind are .......

    News Round-up 11 April 2014

  • Sovereign ceiling criteria finalised

    Fitch has published its criteria detailing how ratings of structured finance (SF) notes and covered bonds (CVB) are constrained by the credit quality of the sovereign to which the SF transaction or CVB programme is exposed. The methodology is consistent with the one presented in the exposure draft published on 22 January (SCI 23 January).

    The criteria provide details of .......

    News Round-up 11 April 2014

  • Bank brings in trio

    Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has made three additions to its capital and financial markets team. Caroline Jennings, Robert Gaspar and Kristan Gochee will each be based in New York.

    Jennings joins as credit sales svp. She has particular structured products expertise and was previously at Raymond James & Associates, having also worked for JPMorgan, Bank One Capital Markets, Barclays Capital .......

    Job Swaps 11 April 2014
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