Complete news archive

  • NHG-backed RMBS 'well protected'

    Fitch reports that NHG-backed RMBS are well protected if a downgrade of the Dutch sovereign and Waarborgfond Eigen Woningen, the provider of NHG, were to occur.

    "We believe the Dutch government is strongly committed to the NHG guarantee scheme and will continue to remain so, even if its own financial situation were to somewhat deteriorate," says Pierre Soens, Fitch's Dutch .......

    News Round-up 18 April 2013

  • Bloomberg sues over swap rule

    Bloomberg has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the US CFTC from implementing what it says is flawed regulation relating to the clearing of swaps that "will put financial markets in jeopardy". The firm notes that the regulation, which enters into effect on 10 June, requires far more upfront costs - .......

    Job Swaps 18 April 2013

  • US home prices seen as overvalued

    Fitch's view on US home prices remains unmoved, despite the continued rise in the Case-Shiller index. The agency continues to believe that national prices are overvalued by roughly 10% in real terms and 2% nominally (after taking into account inflation and price momentum).

    Fitch attributes the rise in prices and sales volume - particularly in California - primarily to pent-up .......

    News Round-up 18 April 2013

  • Countrywide class action settled

    A US$500m settlement has been agreed in the MBS class action litigation against Countrywide Financial Corporation and others, led by lead plaintiff the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS). It marks the largest MBS-federal securities class action settlement in the US to date.

    If approved by the US District Court in the Central District of California, the settlement will bring .......

    Job Swaps 18 April 2013

  • Pre-wired flexibility

    Intu CMBS could have broader attraction

    The recent £800m Intu (SGS) Finance 2013 series 1 transaction represents a watershed in UK CMBS as it uses a complex legal structure to achieve a commercially simple end result. Indeed, it is hoped that the issue's success will tempt other real estate companies that moved into unsecured debt post-financial crisis back to the CMBS market.

    The Intu deal, which .......

    News Analysis 18 April 2013

  • Euro CLO equity returns examined

    The average European CLO equity cashflow return recovered to 10.5% in 2012 from 8.5% in 2011, according to JPMorgan. However, significant dispersion remains: strong equity returned 15%-20% last year, but up to a quarter of the market returned 0% due to widespread OC failure.

    By way of comparison, the average US CLO equity return was 26.8% last year. Reasons for .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • Trio recruited for CMBS lending platform

    Arbor Commercial Mortgage has added three new svps to its CMBS and syndication platform. Barbara Duka, Peter Ginsberg and Richard Bianchi will each be based in the firm's New York office.

    Duka joins as svp of CMBS and syndication credit and will work closely with head of CMBS finance and distribution Todd Hirsch. She spent 14 years at S&P overseeing .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2013

  • NAIC changes to hit Alt-A, subprime

    The NAIC recently proposed changes to its modelling process for insurance company holdings of RMBS and CMBS positions. The changes aren't expected to affect most zero-loss designation bonds, but are likely to reduce NAIC price points for securities forecasted to take a loss in at least one of its economic scenarios.

    NAIC is proposing to use the risk-free US Treasury .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • Consumer finance platform expanded

    Finacity Corporation has hired Paul Jenison to lead its efforts to facilitate the securitisation and financing of consumer receivables. Jenison was formerly at PaineWebber and at Prudential Securities.

    .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2013

  • New measures to tackle Irish arrears

    Ireland's Department of Finance (DoF) and the Central Bank of Ireland have announced new measures to strengthen lenders' ability to deal with the country's growing mortgage arrears problem. The DoF plans to introduce by the end of this month new legislation that removes the current legal ban on repossessions, while the central bank has proposed several changes to the Code .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • Russian property valuation warning

    The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has begun requiring the country's largest refinancing organisation - the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML) - to accept property valuation reports from non-accredited appraisers. The FAS aims to restrict AHML from using an exclusive list of pre-selected, accredited appraisers to carry out property valuations on which it would then base its mortgage underwriting.

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • Call for project finance to diversify

    In just two years, shadow banking finance for infrastructure projects has risen from virtually zero to an estimated US$20bn, according to S&P. The agency expects such funding to climb further this year to a projected US$25bn.

    "Traditional project finance lenders - governments and the banks - are under severe economic pressure while demand for capital to fund projects is growing," .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • Reinsurer builds capital markets team

    Aspen Reinsurance has appointed Brian Tobben as md of its newly-created Aspen Capital Markets division. The new unit will expand Aspen Re's participation in the alternative reinsurance market.

    Aspen Capital Markets' focus will be to develop alternative reinsurance structures to leverage Aspen Re's existing underwriting franchise and increase its operational flexibility in the capital markets.

    Tobben joins Aspen from PartnerRe, .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2013

  • Asset manager makes ILS foray

    Schroders has purchased 30% of the share capital of Secquaero Advisors, an ILS investment management business in Switzerland. The move adds ILS to the firm's list of product offerings for the first time.

    .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2013

  • Guilty plea for ex-Credit Suisse md

    Former Credit Suisse md and global head of structured credit Kareem Serageldin has pled guilty to conspiring to falsify the books and records of Credit Suisse before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Serageldin was extradited from the UK to face charges that he fraudulently inflated the prices of asset-backed bonds in Credit Suisse's trading book in late 2007 and early .......

    Job Swaps 17 April 2013

  • APAC outlook remains stable

    Fitch reports that the Asia Pacific structured finance transactions it rates were mostly affirmed in the first quarter, with Japan being the only country that witnessed downgrades. Japan saw 11 tranches from four CMBS downgraded during the quarter, all from already distressed levels (triple-C and below).

    Australia saw 256 affirmations from 73 transactions in 1Q13, most of which were from .......

    News Round-up 17 April 2013

  • RFC issued on benchmark principles

    IOSCO has published a consultation paper, entitled 'Principles for Financial Benchmarks', which seeks public comments on a set of high-level principles for benchmarks used in global financial markets. Because of the wide diversity of benchmarks, IOSCO also is asking for public comment on a subset of more detailed principles for benchmarks having specific risks arising from their reliance on submissions .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2013

  • Stable quarter for western CDS spreads

    Western European CDS spreads have experienced a relatively stable quarter, despite the insolvency of Cypriot banks, according to S&P Capital IQ's latest quarterly global sovereign debt credit risk report.

    A last-minute bail-out of Cyprus prevented a default as upfront prices fluctuated by seven points towards quarter-end. However, default risks remain high at 70% over five years, according to the report.

    News Round-up 16 April 2013

  • Macro weakness skews rating transitions

    By end-2012, only 1.37% by original issuance volume of European structured finance notes outstanding in mid-2007 had defaulted, according to S&P's latest quarterly ratings transition study.

    "Consumer-related securitisations in particular have seen solid credit performance through the crisis, with a cumulative default rate since mid-2007 of only 0.04%," confirms S&P credit analyst Arnaud Checconi. "In addition, we estimate that more .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2013

  • Stuy Town settlement approved

    The US$68.7m Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village settlement (SCI 3 December 2012) was approved by the New York State Supreme Court last week, clearing one of the last remaining hurdles to the eventual liquidation of the property that is securitised in five CMBS. According to Barclays Capital, no tenants objected to the settlement and only five out of the 27,500-person class .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2013

  • ResCap creditors seeking suit

    Unsecured creditors of ResCap are seeking permission from the bankruptcy court to sue Ally on the basis that the US$750m it has offered to settle all its ResCap liabilities is not enough (SCI 12 February). The creditors claim that Ally has exploited its control over ResCap and, as such, may be responsible for all of ResCap's unsecured liabilities - which .......

    News Round-up 16 April 2013
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