Complete news archive

  • Rating agency names new leader

    Moody's has promoted Michael West to global head of structured finance ratings. He was previously global head of corporate finance rankings and will be replaced in that role by Mark Gray.

    .......

    Job Swaps 6 March 2014

  • GSEs to turn to NPL sales?

    The GSEs have published their annual financial reports for last year, confirming that RMBS and CMBS disposals slowed down dramatically in the final quarter as sales targets were reached. With portfolios now significantly reduced, future illiquid portfolio sales may have to come from different sources and non-performing loans could be a candidate.

    The GSEs had an illiquid portfolio sales target .......

    News 5 March 2014

  • Air France CDS tighter on cost-cutting

    CDS market sentiment towards Air France has noticeably improved since the beginning of the year, according to Fitch Solutions. This is being driven by the company's continued efforts to cut costs, reduce debt and return to profit.

    "Credit default swaps on Air France have tightened 13% since January, outperforming our European Consumer Services CDS Index, which has remained largely unchanged," .......

    News Round-up 5 March 2014

  • ARS pricing service offered

    SIX Financial Information has teamed up with Pluris Valuation Advisors to help clients to value auction rate securities. Pluris has an extensive database covering thousands of recent transactions and a close relationship with SecondMarket, which is currently the only active auction rate trading venue.

    The Pluris auction rate pricing available through SIX covers municipal, student loan and preferred securities. It .......

    Job Swaps 5 March 2014

  • 'Unsustainable' rents eyed

    Moody's suggests that soaring apartment rents in Williston, North Dakota, are unsustainable in the wake of the energy boom. An analysis undertaken by the agency indicates that rents will ultimately normalise at far lower levels.

    "The energy production boom in western North Dakota has led to a rapid rise in population and a significant shortage of apartments. As a result, .......

    News Round-up 5 March 2014

  • Regional factors weigh on UK RMBS

    A new DBRS analysis indicates that the UK housing market in the period following the financial crisis in 2008 is better characterised as a series of regional crises. Each with their own characteristics, the impact of the crisis on different regions within the UK varies widely and has not influenced housing in a homogeneous manner.

    The geographic profile of assets .......

    News Round-up 5 March 2014

  • Wake-up call

    Euro CLO idiosyncratic risks emerging

    Vivarte's decision to suspend payments on its debt (SCI 18 February) has served as a wake-up call regarding tail risk in European CLO portfolios. While further spread tightening is anticipated across the 2.0 capital structure (notwithstanding current macro concerns), investors are likely to be more selective in 1.0 paper, given emerging idiosyncratic risks.

    Daniel Leiter, an executive director in fixed .......

    News Analysis 5 March 2014

  • CMBS spreads sneak tighter

    US CMBS BWIC volume was steady yesterday at around US$233m as spreads tightened. A considerable chunk of that supply was accounted for by the US$116.358m MLCFC 2007-7 AJ bond.

    SCI's PriceABS data shows that the MLCFC 2007-7 AJ tranche was talked during the session in the mid/high-40s. A much smaller piece of the tranche was covered .......

    Market Reports 5 March 2014

  • SF pros set up new credit unit

    Intermediate Capital Group has set up a new alternative credit team, which will be led by Sridhar Bearelly. He will be joined by Jesper Poulsen, Vincent Charles-Gervais and Simon Peatfield in London.

    Peatfield currently manages ICG's existing European structured credit capabilities. Bearelly, Poulsen and Charles-Gervais join from Credos Capital, where they established an alternative credit fund platform which ICG will .......

    Job Swaps 5 March 2014

  • Court reinstates RMBS claims

    A trial court's decision to dismiss Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp's claims for rescessory and consequential damages in an action against Credit Suisse regarding US$1.8bn in RMBS has been reversed. New York's Appellate Division, First Department has also reinstated claims for damages.

    Assured sued loan originator DLJ Mortgage and underwriter Credit Suisse in 2011, alleging that they had misrepresented the quality .......

    Job Swaps 5 March 2014

  • Auction due for ABS CDO

    Cowen and Company has been appointed as liquidation agent for Blue Edge ABS CDO, the collateral of which will be disposed of via a public auction. The collateral will be split into five separate portfolios for sale: Alt-A RMBS, mixed RMBS, ABS CDO assets, CRE CDO assets and zero-factor assets. Bids for the assets must be submitted by 6 March.

    .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2014

  • Titan NHP sale makes sense

    The noteholder dispute over Mount Street's replacement of Capita as the special servicer for Titan Europe 2007-1 (NHP) (see SCI's CMBS loan events database) is diverting attention away from the more pressing issue that capital expenditure is not adding significant value. Selling the portfolio now rather than waiting for valuations to increase appears to make more sense.

    HC-One .......

    News 4 March 2014

  • Firms target ILS opportunities

    Argo Re and Horseshoe Re will work together to combine Argo's depth of underwriting experience with Horseshoe's ILS expertise. The combination will provide funds and investors with a platform to participate in reinsurance programmes that require coverage from highly-rated reinsurance carriers, which the firms believe is an underserved area of the ILS market.

    .......

    Job Swaps 4 March 2014

  • Trade automation specialist appointed

    Algomi has appointed Howard Edelstein as a strategic advisor. He specialises in driving trading efficiencies through automation.

    Edelstein was previously chairman and ceo of BondDesk Group and has served as president and ceo of NYFIX. He has also worked in senior roles at Radianz and Thomson Financial ESG.

    .......

    Job Swaps 4 March 2014

  • Patient investors 'rewarded' by ESA outcome

    Extended Stay America's successful IPO last November paves the way for other CMBS-backed companies to follow suit, according to Talmage ceo Edward Shugrue in the latest issue of CREFC's 'CRE Finance World'. ESA shares were priced at US$20 - nearly double its value when the firm was bought out of bankruptcy in 2010.

    From 2004 through 2008, 75% of the .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2014

  • RFC issued on TD approach

    Fitch has published a criteria exposure draft for rating Portuguese and Spanish electricity tariff deficit (TD) securitisations. The agency believes that the ratings of TD securitisations cannot be more than three notches higher than the issuer default rating (IDR) of the relevant sovereign, mainly because its central expectation is that macroeconomic trends and regulatory policies have a direct impact on .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2014

  • Euro CLO 2.0s becoming effective

    Fitch's latest CLO Tracker report includes five European CLO 2.0 transactions with over €1.8bn in assets under management, indicating that the process of new issuance replacing older transactions as they exit their reinvestment period is underway. Of the Fitch-rated CLO 1.0 universe, 70% are now through their respective reinvestment periods and the average senior note factor has decreased to 68% .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2014

  • CMBS credit creep examined

    As many as 10 new conduit lending programmes could be added to the list of US CMBS originators in the coming months, potentially bringing the total to 371, Kroll Bond Rating Agency notes. While issuance is expected to grow by 15%-20% this year, it is unclear whether the increase in volume can support the new entrants. The rating agency therefore .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2014

  • From the sidelines?

    Sidecars, SACs and private cat bonds gaining ground

    The dominance of catastrophe bonds in the ILS sector could be challenged by the growth of sidecars. With segregated accounts companies (SACs) also rising in prominence and private deals becoming more common, the nature of the market is changing.

    Last year was the busiest since 2007 for the ILS market, with Willis Capital Markets & Advisory estimating that more than .......

    News Analysis 4 March 2014

  • CBO on the block

    An auction has been scheduled for Trainer Wortham First Republic CBO V on 21 March. The collateral shall only be sold if the proceeds are greater than or equal to the auction call redemption amount.

    .......

    News Round-up 3 March 2014

  • Legacy repayment rate to remain low

    Moody's expects the performance of loans backing European CMBS to stabilise over the next three years. CRE lending will likely remain constrained, however.

    "In line with our previous expectations, the outlook for commercial real estate markets has rebounded somewhat after the recent period of financial stress and the euro-area crisis," says Oliver Moldenhauer, a vp-senior analyst in Moody's structured finance .......

    News Round-up 3 March 2014
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