Complete news archive

  • Intercreditor guidelines out for comment

    CREFC Europe's ICA Committee has released a consultation document entitled 'Guidelines for intercreditor agreements in UK commercial real estate finance transactions - 2013'. The guidelines have two key aims: to promote consideration of a common set of issues in intercreditor agreements; and to engender confidence in market participants that an acceptable arrangement between the different and frequently conflicting interests of .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2012

  • Peripheral rating actions explained

    Moody's expects that Dutch, German and UK ABS and RMBS will come under minimal further pressure following recent actions on bank ratings and current proposed changes to the agency's structured finance methodologies. However, the likely impact of both factors on RMBS and ABS in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland will range from moderate to significant.

    Moody's anticipates that less than .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2012

  • Two-way margining introduced

    SIFMA has revised its standard master securities forward transaction agreement (MSFTA), in conjunction with the Treasury Market Practices Group (TMPG). The aim was to create a more broadly acceptable document that can support the TMPG recommendation that forward-settling agency MBS transactions be margined by both parties in order to mitigate counterparty and systemic risk. Indeed, while many provisions were updated, .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2012

  • Cat bonds relatively unscathed by Sandy

    The impact of Hurricane Sandy on the catastrophe bond market is likely to be muted based on current estimates, with little impact on new pricing, according to Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA). The scope and scale of the storm means it is unlikely that any bonds will be triggered solely by Sandy.

    However, if losses mount and early estimates .......

    News Round-up 15 November 2012

  • Structured products vet moves on

    Joe Mevorah has joined Houlihan Lokey as financial advisory services (FAS) md. He will be based in New York and report to Jack Berka, senior md and global head of FAS.

    Mevorah will oversee financial institutions coverage for FAS, working closely with the firm's financial institutions group. He specialises in RMBS, ABS, distressed debt, bank recapitalisation and capital markets.

    Mevorah .......

    Job Swaps 15 November 2012

  • Further hires for MBS group

    Gleacher & Company Securities has added Brendan Keane and Robert Miller as mds in its MBS and rates division, marking 19 appointments to the team since the summer (SCI passim). Keane and Miller will both be located in New York.

    Keane joins from CoreLogic, where he was svp and national accounts director. He was also a member of the advisory .......

    Job Swaps 15 November 2012

  • PCS label up and running

    The Prime Collateralised Securities (PCS) initiative (SCI passim) has officially opened for business with a series of board appointments. The Irish Stock Exchange, True Sale Initiative and KPMG have also been confirmed as screening partners to assist in checking key documentation.

    The PCS board now comprises: Francesco Papadia, former director general for market operations at the ECB, who will lead the .......

    Job Swaps 15 November 2012

  • CMBS loan services firm targets Florida

    Hart Advisors Group has expanded its CMBS loan restructuring services by opening an office in Miami. Michael Mogull, principal and director of business development, will lead the team. He has extensive experience in the CRE industry in Florida, having formed the Mogull Group there prior to joining Hart Advisors.

    Hart Advisors says the new office is a reflection of the .......

    Job Swaps 15 November 2012

  • Project bond boost anticipated

    An EU initiative to provide subordinated debt instruments for large infrastructure projects is likely to stimulate the European infrastructure project bond market by allowing for higher bond ratings than previously seen in the markets, according to S&P. Under the Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative, the European Investment Bank will provide either loans or letters of credit - called project bond .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • OTC notionals decline

    Total OTC derivatives notional amounts outstanding amounted to US$639trn at end-June 2012, according to the BIS, down by 1% from end-2011. The appreciation of the US dollar against key currencies between end-2011 and end-June 2012 contributed to the decline by reducing the US dollar value of contracts denominated in euros in particular.

    Credit derivatives notional amounts declined to US$27trn. Gross .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • Trials set for FHFA claims

    The FHFA is set to proceed with most of its claims against Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan regarding losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac related to the purchase of RMBS, following two recent decisions by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The FHFA filed lawsuits against 17 financial institutions last year .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • Libor floor benefits examined

    Libor floors have provided a boost to the interest payments paid by loans held within US CLO transactions, S&P says. This, in turn, has driven payouts to equity significantly higher.

    CLO interest coverage ratios have risen along with the steady decrease in Libor rates, as the amount of interest due on the CLO liabilities decreases at a faster rate than .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • RMBS takes a step back

    The holiday-shortened week has begun with secondary US non-agency RMBS activity down from Friday's session. Prices were slightly lower yesterday, although still high relative to levels in previous weeks.

    Interactive Data figures put non-agency BWIC volume at US$258m for the session. "BWIC volume is light to start the week, coming in at less than half of Friday's total," the firm .......

    Market Reports 14 November 2012

  • Servicers continuing to evolve

    S&P has released a report on US residential mortgage servicing trends since December 2007, based on data from its Servicer Evaluation Analytical Methodology (SEAM) questionnaires. The agency finds that the industry continues to evolve and implement revised servicing standards and processes.

    "During the past few years, residential mortgage loan servicing has undergone numerous changes," says S&P servicer analyst Monica Perelmuter. .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • Euro CMBS 2.0 principles finalised

    CRE Finance Council Europe has released its 'Market Principles for Issuing European CMBS 2.0' (SCI 24 July). The principles aim to help re-establish confidence in the European real estate capital markets and stimulate the further development of European CMBS by addressing a number of legacy issues.

    While the principles draw on the specific lessons learnt from legacy European CMBS transactions, .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • Manhattan CRE prices jump

    Commercial real estate prices in Manhattan have increased by 16.3% over the last 12 months, meaning that New York City joins Boston as the major metropolitan areas with the greatest gains during that period. Nationally prices have climbed by 6.9% in the last 12 months and 28% since the January 2010 trough, but remain 21.8% below the December 2007 peak .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • TRACE adds TBA data

    FINRA has begun disseminating TBA transaction information - including CUSIP, time of transaction, price and size - via TRACE. The US SEC has also approved a FINRA proposal to publicly disseminate transaction information in specified agency pass-through MBS, with the effective date of this proposal to be announced in a forthcoming Regulatory Notice.

    The TBA market represents more than US$270bn .......

    News Round-up 14 November 2012

  • Cadwalader adds London partners

    Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has recently added two partners to its London office. Stephen Day has joined from Mayer Brown, while Yushan Ng has moved over from Linklaters.

    Day is capital markets partner, advising on a range of structured finance and securitisation transactions, with a focus on complex cross-border deals. Ng is financial restructuring partner, with particular experience in structuring .......

    Job Swaps 14 November 2012

  • Opportunities down-under

    RMBS relative value beyond the big brands

    Attracted by the stable performance and yield pick-up on offer, European and US investor appetite for Australian RMBS is increasing. Demand may have to broaden beyond the big brand names to find the best relative value, however.

    Jurisdictions with stable economic conditions, like Australia and Canada, are increasingly proving attractive to securitisation investors. And - in light of falling government .......

    News Analysis 14 November 2012

  • Firm adds development, operations heads

    Coherence Capital Partners has hired Philipp Levy as member, partner and head of business development and Edgar Benavides as partner and head of operations. The firm was founded earlier this year by Sal Naro (SCI 3 February).

    Levy joins from Mudrick Capital Management, where he was head of marketing and investor relations. He has over 25 years of experience in .......

    Job Swaps 13 November 2012

  • First Amendment defence rejected

    Cook County Circuit Judge Mary Anne Mason has denied an S&P motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Illinois Attorney General against the rating agency. The suit was filed in January and alleges that S&P and its parent company, McGraw-Hill, misled investors about the objectivity of S&P's high ratings for RMBS that later defaulted. In her decision, Judge Mason .......

    Job Swaps 13 November 2012
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