Complete news archive

  • Project finance CDO criteria updated

    S&P has updated its criteria for rating project finance CDOs. Based on a preliminary analysis, the agency expects the application of the criteria to result in downgrades of 13 tranches.

    Though taking into account the characteristics of debt in this sector, the criteria for rating project finance CDOs adopt the same basic methodologies, assumptions and modelling parameters that S&P uses .......

    News Round-up 19 March 2014

  • Trups CDO defaults, deferrals flat

    The number of US bank Trups CDO combined defaults and deferrals remained at 25.8% by the end of February, according to Fitch's latest index results for the sector. Only one deferring bank representing US$11m of collateral in one CDO cured, while there were no new defaults or deferrals.

    Across 78 Trups CDOs, 224 bank issuers have defaulted and remain in .......

    News Round-up 19 March 2014

  • 'Type A' treatment questioned

    S&P says that the latest changes to the draft Solvency 2 standards will likely do little to prevent many European insurers turning away from securitisation investments, despite representing a positive development compared with the previous proposals. The updated proposal defines certain securitisations as 'Type A' exposures and treats these more favourably than other securitisations termed 'Type B' (SCI passim).

    "We .......

    News Round-up 19 March 2014

  • Activity up across non-agency

    After a quiet start to the week, US non-agency RMBS secondary market activity picked up yesterday. BWIC volumes were around US$850m and SCI's PriceABS data shows bid-list supply contained a strong mix of bonds backed by different collateral types.

    Among the subprime names of interest from the session was the AMSI 2004-R3 M1 tranche, which was .......

    Market Reports 19 March 2014

  • Liquidation timelines examined

    Morningstar Credit Ratings has researched losses incurred on loans in non-agency US CMBS covered by the Morningstar surveillance platform to gain a quantitative insight into loss severity and timing of liquidation. Covered by the study were 97,412 loans from 995 deals issued between 1994 and 2013, of which 9,567 experienced a loss.

    The Morningstar study finds that average time to .......

    News Round-up 19 March 2014

  • IG22 to trade wider?

    The Markit CDX IG index is set to roll to series 22 tomorrow (20 March), with four constituents substituted. Two of these names are in the materials sector, meaning that CDX IG22 is more heavily weighted in the materials sector than CDX IG21.

    Three of the entities being removed are rated single-A or double-A by at least one rating agency .......

    News Round-up 19 March 2014

  • Hong Kong partner appointed

    Jae Chul Lee has joined Loeb & Loeb affiliate Pang & Co in Hong Kong. He becomes a partner in the capital markets team.

    Lee was previously at DLA Piper where he served as a partner. He has significant experience in cross-border securitisation, structured finance and OTC derivatives involving Korean entities.

    .......

    Job Swaps 19 March 2014

  • CDS vet joins info firm

    Following the recruitment of Howard Edelstein (SCI 4 March), Algomi has now appointed Grant Biggar as a strategic advisor. The former Creditex president has also made an investment in the company.

    The credit derivatives specialist brings two decades of experience in global credit derivatives to the information-matching solutions provider. As well as Creditex he has worked at ICAP, Bankers Trust .......

    Job Swaps 19 March 2014

  • Vivarte CLO exposure weighed

    Moody's expects that European CLOs nearing maturity will experience lower recoveries on Vivarte's default than CLOs farther away from maturity. The agency explains in its latest CLO Interest publication that CLOs approaching maturity will have to sell Vivarte debt before completing the restructuring process - a credit negative for junior noteholders because excess spread will be diverted to redeem senior .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Vintage CLO credit quality deteriorating

    Since better quality loans tend to prepay faster, the collateral pools of amortising US CLOs are becoming more concentrated and less liquid, increasing the likelihood that junior tranches will suffer principal losses. In particular, the credit quality and liquidity of the remaining 2002-2004 vintage CLO portfolios is markedly worse than that of later vintage deals, according to Moody's latest CLO .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Spirit upside outlined

    Pubco Spirit has announced strong results for the first half in both its managed and tenanted businesses. The disclosure has strengthened the case for an upgrade of Spirit bonds to investment grade within a 12-month horizon.

    Spirit's managed like-for-like (LFL) sales are up by 6.1% in the eight weeks to 1 March and up by 4.8% in the 28 weeks. .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Varied supply in secondary ABS

    US ABS BWIC volume dropped yesterday to a little over US$100m. Much of the supply came from bonds backed by auto collateral, but container, credit card, servicer advance and student loan bonds were out for the bid as well.

    Offering levels across the market were generally unchanged from last week. Aside from the student loan paper, most of the bonds .......

    Market Reports 18 March 2014

  • Asset manager eyes Nordics

    ECM Asset Management has registered its range of credit funds in Sweden and Finland. The firm says it has identified the two countries as markets with significant investor demand for credit funds.

    "Investors in these markets have been investing in equity markets for some time, but have lacked the diversifier of high quality credit funds that ECM now can offer," .......

    Job Swaps 18 March 2014

  • ILS fund minted

    CATCo Investment Management has launched its first dedicated traditional reinsurance investment strategy. Dubbed Aquilo, the fund will be exposed to traditional global reinsurance risk, insurance-linked securities and other financial instruments.

    Managed by ceo Tony Belisle and co-managed by Charlie Vaughan and Rick Montgomerie, Aquilo will launch with initial capital of US$110m, with planned growth for 2015 to US$250m. The fund's .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Aussie house prices stress tested

    Moody's Analytics says that it is important to examine house prices and vulnerabilities at the state level, rather than national level, when stress testing the Australian housing market. This finding is based on a study undertaken by the firm of the effects of substantial but plausible external and domestic shocks on the Australian housing market at the state level.

    According .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Libor lawsuit filed

    The FDIC last week filed a lawsuit against 17 banks and the British Bankers' Association in connection with the manipulation of Libor. The agency alleges that the defendants' manipulation of interbank lending rates caused substantial losses to 38 failed banks.

    A number of the banks involved in the scandal have already reached settlements with regulators and paid more than US$5bn .......

    Job Swaps 18 March 2014

  • Spanish reforms to hit SME funding?

    Measures announced by the Spanish government to facilitate debt refinancing and restructuring agreements may affect the recovery expectations and cashflows of SME CLOs and mortgage cover pools, Fitch says. The agency suggests that reforms may make SME funding scarcer or more expensive.

    The initiative, which was enacted on 7 March in Royal Decree 4/2014, eases the process by which refinancing .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • Senior financials clearing offered

    IntercontinentalExchange Group has launched clearing for Markit iTraxx Senior Financials credit default swap index instruments at both of its CDS clearing houses. Clearing at US-based ICE Clear Credit began yesterday (18 March) and, pending completion of all relevant regulatory processes, will begin at London-based ICE Clear Europe on 24 March.

    ICE clears more than 400 single name and index CDS .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • QM criteria finalised

    Fitch has finalised its criteria for analysing loans securing US RMBS under the qualified mortgage (QM) standards and ability-to-repay (ATR) rule recently adopted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB). The finalisation of the criteria follows the conclusion of the agency's request for comment on its proposed approach (SCI 13 November 2013).

    Fitch has developed assumptions regarding the probability .......

    News Round-up 18 March 2014

  • New Penn beefs up in sales

    New Penn Financial has nearly doubled the size of its wholesale sales force with the addition of three regional sales executives and 28 account executives from Green Tree Servicing. The move follows the recent closure of Green Tree's wholesale mortgage division.

    The three regional sales executives oversee large territories across the US: Wells Constantine will cover Northern California and the .......

    Job Swaps 17 March 2014

  • Rating activity becoming 'balanced'

    Global structured finance (SF) rating activity was far more balanced in 2013, according to Fitch, with downgrades declining to pre-crisis levels and upgrades becoming more visible. While downgrades continued to outnumber upgrades by a margin of 1.7 to one, the downgrade rate at 10% declined to its lowest level in six years. Conversely, the upgrade rate rose to 6%, breaking .......

    News Round-up 17 March 2014
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