Complete news archive

  • QRM rules awaited

    Final clarity as to what constitutes a qualified mortgage and the likelihood of increased issuance will be key developments that will shape the coming year for US RMBS, according to Fitch.

    The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's (CFPB) is expected to release the final definitions for qualified mortgages (QM) this month. "Securitisation of QRMs exempts issuers from risk retention and premium .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2013

  • Servicer assessment criteria released

    Moody's has published its new methodology for assessing RMBS servicer quality (SQ), following a request for comment in July 2012. The framework includes a number of enhancements to the agency's evaluation of US residential mortgage servicers.

    First, Moody's has augmented servicers' loan level performance data from its portfolio with performance data from securitisation trusts. "In analysing a servicer's collections roll .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2013

  • IRET Portfolio watchlisted

    Morningstar has added the US$123m IRET Portfolio loan, securitised in the CGCMT 2006-C5 CMBS, to its watchlist due to a decrease in DSCR and occupancy. Two of the nine properties in the pool are occupied by single tenants, with lease expirations for the largest tenant in each property fairly well-staggered over the next few years.

    The portfolio was appraised for .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2013

  • LCR move welcomed

    The inclusion of RMBS in the Basel 3 Liquidity Coverage Ratio (SCI 7 January) has been welcomed as a resounding positive for the market. Together with the postponement of the full implementation of the LCR and a reduction in the overall level of required liquid assets, the news has sparked the beginning of what is expected to be a gradual .......

    News Round-up 9 January 2013

  • Sound Harbor grows credit business

    Sound Harbor Partners has appointed Dean Criares as partner and chairman of its loan funds business. The firm has also acquired the management contracts for over US$1bn of leveraged loans.

    Criares was previously senior md and partner of The Blackstone Group. He founded Blackstone Debt Advisors and served as co-head of the GSO debt funds group.

    The management contracts acquisition .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2013

  • Houlihan, Milestone union agreed

    Houlihan Lokey has acquired Milestone Advisors and will now incorporate Milestone's team into its existing financial institutions group. The acquisition combines Houlihan Lokey's global footprint, capital markets products, restructuring and valuation capabilities and financial sponsor relationships with Milestone's extensive financial institutions expertise across the depository institution, specialty finance, distressed real estate and financial technology sectors.

    Most of the former Milestone .......

    Job Swaps 9 January 2013

  • Varied performance outlook for prime

    Fitch's 2013 outlook for house prices and prime residential mortgage performance varies greatly across Europe, the US and Australia. Substantial concerns remain for the peripheral eurozone markets, while the others are said to be generally more stable.

    The agency anticipates the largest further house price declines for peripheral countries, due to a bleak outlook for mortgage availability, unemployment, economic growth and .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2013

  • DPC criteria updated

    Fitch has updated its rating criteria for derivative product companies (DPCs). The agency confirms that it will look to the DPC's stand-alone credit strength, as well as the sponsor's, when rating vehicles engaging in standardised, liquid derivatives.

    Under the criteria, a ratings floor of single-A will apply for continuation DPCs that are well-capitalised and appropriately structured, whereas a ratings floor .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2013

  • CMBS pay-offs dip

    Trepp reports that last month 54.5% of CMBS loans reaching their balloon date paid off, compared to 62.6% in November. Despite the fall off, the December rate remains well above the 12-month moving average of 47%.

    By loan count as opposed to balance, 68.5% of loans paid off in December. On this basis, the pay-off percentage reached its highest level .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2013

  • BofA effect seen in secondary RMBS

    US RMBS secondary supply remains moderate so far this year. Around US$434m of BWIC volume was seen yesterday across agency and non-agency, with SCI's PriceABS data showing 97 RMBS line items from the session.

    "Overall BWIC volume is slowly returning to pre-holiday levels," says Interactive Data. "Dealer offerings are mostly unchanged from the prior session."

    Certain non-agency bonds .......

    Market Reports 8 January 2013

  • Innovative sidecar debuts

    Argo Group International has formed Harambee Re 2013-1, its debut sidecar transaction. Unlike other sidecars, which typically write either reinsurance or retrocession business, the vehicle is believed to be the first to support both a reinsurance and an insurance portfolio.

    Harambee Re provides capacity of approximately 5% of premium income for specific property portfolios that represent two of Argo Group's .......

    News Round-up 8 January 2013

  • ILW pro recruited

    JLT Reinsurance Brokers has appointed Paul Thyer as partner. He becomes a member of the firm's London non-marine treaty team and will focus on property retrocession, property reinsurance and industry loss warranties.

    Thyer was most recently associate director of BMS Re. He has 32 years' experience within the reinsurance industry as a London market retrocession, reinsurance and ILW broker.

    .......

    Job Swaps 8 January 2013

  • MSR issue

    BofA agreement sparks prepay concern

    Bank of America has reached a US$10.3bn settlement to resolve outstanding repurchase agreements on residential loans sold to Fannie Mae. The bank also announced that it intends to sell around US$306bn of MSRs from its servicing portfolio, raising fears of increased prepayment risk.

    BofA will pay approximately US$3.6bn in cash and will repurchase around US$6.75bn in mortgage loans sold to .......

    News Analysis 8 January 2013

  • Edison auction scheduled

    An auction to settle the credit derivative trades for Edison Mission Energy CDS is to be held on 16 January. ISDA's Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee last month resolved that a bankruptcy credit event occurred in respect of the name (SCI 19 December 2012).

    .......

    News Round-up 7 January 2013

  • CMBS loss severities decline

    Average US CMBS loss severity ended up at 37.06% last month, or 516bp lower than November's 42.22%, according to Trepp. December liquidations stood at US$1.33bn, relative to the 12-month moving average of US$1.39bn.

    The 119 loan liquidations in December resulted in US$491.4m in losses, with the average loss severity dipping below the 12-month moving average of 40.16%. The loan workout .......

    News Round-up 7 January 2013

  • Home prices overvalued?

    Fitch believes that recent home price growth in the US is being driven more by technical factors than fundamentals. For this reason, the agency's sustainable price projection is more sombre than that observed by current market trends. However, it suggests that the price growth trends in certain locations are indeed supported by fundamentals and its view is more positive in .......

    News Round-up 7 January 2013

  • LCR amendments endorsed

    The Basel Committee has endorsed a package of amendments to the formulation of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). The package has four elements: revisions to the definition of high quality liquid assets (HQLA) and net cash outflows; a timetable for phase-in of the standard; a reaffirmation of the usability of the stock of liquid assets in periods of stress; and .......

    News Round-up 7 January 2013

  • Trading pick-up predicted for CMBX 6

    Markit CMBX Series 6 is due to launch on 25 January (SCI 8 August 2012), featuring a new sub-index. Given increased demand for a transparent hedging tool referencing newer CMBS issuance, the index is expected to be actively used by both issuers and investors.

    CMBX 6 will comprise six sub-indices - AAA, AS, AA, A, BBB- and BB - each .......

    News 7 January 2013

  • Autos, cards lead ABS charge

    US auto and credit card ABS paper was being shown on Friday as the secondary market began to open up. SCI's PriceABS data shows 21 ABS line items from the session.

    "Secondary market activity has picked up as the week comes to a close, while the primary market remains quiet. An afternoon list containing blocks of senior auto and credit .......

    Market Reports 7 January 2013

  • Cliff bill briefly buoys market

    US agency MBS outperformed both Treasuries and swaps after Congress passed a bill last week to avert the so-called 'fiscal cliff'. However, suggestions that the Federal Reserve may stop buying assets by end-2013 then spooked the market and swiftly undid those gains.

    The bill is expected to be positive for the housing recovery in the country. It extends the Mortgage .......

    News 7 January 2013

  • CMBS AJs lead market restart

    The US CMBS secondary market has been among the quickest to start up in 2013. Yesterday's session was particularly notable for the volume of AJ paper circulating, with SCI's PriceABS data showing 35 CMBS AJs among the session's 120 line items.

    AJ CMBS had also dominated Wednesday's session and some of the names out yesterday - such as WBCMT .......

    Market Reports 4 January 2013
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