Complete news archive

  • Credit card settlement could hurt ABS

    Credit card ABS could be negatively affected by a recent agreement between credit card companies and merchants which accept card payments, according to Fitch. The agreement saw card companies agree to pay US$6.05bn to merchants and cut the fees merchants pay on credit card transactions for eight months.

    The agreement also allows merchants to introduce surcharges for paying by credit .......

    News Round-up 18 July 2012

  • Electronic trading platform enhanced

    Traccr has added instant messaging to its online negotiations and trading platform for structured products, enhancing communication between participants. The portal is mainly used for CLNs and CDS.

    "Our goal is to streamline the trade execution process by enhancing bilateral communication from inception of a request-for-quote by either a dealer or investor client to matching trade specifications during execution and .......

    Job Swaps 18 July 2012

  • US CMBS going strong

    It has been a busy last few days in US CMBS. While the secondary market has been quiet, primary issuance has been very healthy and there is more on the way.

    Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae each priced deals (US$1.3bn FREMF 2012-K710 and US$718m FNA 2012-M8) that were typically well received. The A1 tranche on the Freddie deal priced at .......

    Market Reports 17 July 2012

  • Rating action taken on Alt-A RMBS

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 95 tranches, upgraded one tranche and confirmed another 36 tranches from 20 RMBS transactions, backed by Alt-A loans, issued by Credit Suisse from 2001 to 2004. The actions affect US$1.2bn of securities.

    The actions are a result of the recent performance of Alt-A pools originated before 2005 and reflect Moody's updated loss expectations on .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • Spanish tranches on watch

    Fitch has placed 212 tranches related to Spanish structured finance transactions on rating watch negative. A further 48 tranches previously on RWN have been maintained. The agency downgraded several tranches only last month (SCI 11 June).

    The rating actions are due to transactions' exposure to Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, Instituto de Credito Oficial, Confederacion Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros, .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • Agency takes action on 20 CDOs

    Fitch has taken various rating actions on 20 CDOs, affirming 108 classes of notes and downgrading seven, including five downgrades to single-D. The downgrades were: two classes of Acacia CDO 8 from single-C to single-D, one class of Commodore CDO II from double-C to single-C, one class of Crystal River CDO 2005-1 from single-C to single-D, one class of Orion .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • BoE scheme 'RMBS negative'

    The Bank of England has launched its funding for lending scheme (FLS), intended to improve lending to the real economy. While this should be beneficial for SME and mortgage lending, it is likely to have a significant negative impact on the UK RMBS primary issuance market, according to Barclays Capital securitised products analysts.

    The scheme aims to boost the incentive .......

    News 17 July 2012

  • HARP accounts for more refis

    The share of HARP refis as a percentage of total refinancings reached an all-time high of 20% in May. The average from January to April had been 16% and for the whole of 2011 had been 13%, note RMBS analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

    Within HARP refis, the share of loans with an LTV of 105%-125% increased to .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • Regulatory compliance options expanded

    OpenLink Financial plans to expand its suite of Dodd-Frank regulatory compliance solutions with ICE Trade Vault swap data repository (SDR) reporting capabilities. The solution will provide clients with a cost-effective way to ensure compliance with CFTC SDR reporting requirements.

    ICE Trade Vault is currently the only CFTC-approved SDR for the commodity and energy, interest rate swaps, CDS and FX asset .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • German CDS alliance announced

    OTC derivatives analytics firm Pricing Partners and derivatives consultancy MathFinance are partnering to provide clients in Germany with a tailored service combining derivatives pricing software and software integration as well as training and quantitative consulting services.

    MathFinance will become a local distributor for Pricing Partners in Germany and will provide services around Pricing Partners' solutions, including onsite training, support and .......

    Job Swaps 17 July 2012

  • Tobacco tranches on rating watch

    Fitch has updated its US tobacco settlement ABS criteria and placed 150 of the 230 tobacco tranches it rates onto rating watch negative. The agency expects to resolve these watches within a month, with most downgrades expected to be one or two notches.

    The new criteria updates Fitch's base case assumption for the annual change in the master settlement agreement .......

    News Round-up 17 July 2012

  • MERS, AG settlement reached

    MERSCORP has reached a settlement with Delaware Attorney General Joseph Biden. MERSCORP has agreed not to file as plaintiff any mortgage foreclosure actions in the state and agreed to quality control and transparency requirements.

    Under the settlement, MERSCORP will more closely monitor the integrity of its signing officer process to avoid a repeat robo-signing and will conduct semi-annual audits, which will be .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2012

  • Fannie continues strong multifamily issuance

    Fannie Mae issued US$6.7bn of multifamily MBS in 2Q12 backed by new multifamily loans, slightly less than the first quarter total of US$7.1bn (SCI 20 April). It also resecuritised US$1.2bn of DUS MBS through its Fannie Mae Guaranteed Multifamily Structures (Fannie Mae GeMS) programme.

    "Increasing property values, solid operating incomes and a low interest rate environment are all creating tailwinds. .......

    News Round-up 16 July 2012

  • SCI Start the Week - 16 July

    A look at the major activity in structured finance over the past seven days

    Pipeline
    It was a busy week for the pipeline. There were four CMBS, one RMBS, one CLO, one ILS and four ABS deals.

    The CMBS transactions were US$1.2bn FREMF 2012-K710, US$300m JMPCC Mortgage Sec Trust 2012-HSBC Commercial Mortgage Pass-Thru Certificates, C$240m IMSCI Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2012-2 and US$1bn MSBAM 2012-C5 CMBS.

    The RMBS and CLO were Lanark series 2012-2 .......

    News 16 July 2012

  • Alternative credit group joins

    THL Credit Advisors has completed the acquisition of McDonnell Investment Management's alternative credit strategies group. The team of James Fellows, Brian Good, Robert Hickey and Michael Herzig will now join THL's capital markets investment business and lead its credit senior loan strategies group.

    Fellows joins as a co-head, md and senior portfolio manager. He has more than 24 years of .......

    Job Swaps 13 July 2012

  • Further ML3 auctions announced

    The New York Fed has announced a succession of asset sales from Maiden Lane III, with bids due at three points this month.

    First, there are nine tranches being auctioned where bids are due by 19 July. These are: two tranches of Adirondack 2005-1, worth just over US$689m; two tranches of Adirondack 2005-2, worth just over US$949m; two tranches of .......

    News Round-up 13 July 2012

  • US CRE prices back up

    US CRE prices were up by 1.4% in May, according to the Moody's/RCA Commercial Property Price Indices. They had been down 0.6% the month before.

    The increase for core commercial properties was 1.2%, with apartment prices rising 1.9% during the month. The central business district (CBD) office sector saw the largest gains, with prices rising 8.1%.

    "Acquisition demand for CBD .......

    News Round-up 13 July 2012

  • Manager beefs up ILS underwriting, modelling

    Twelve Capital has enhanced its ILS underwriting and modelling capabilities with two hires. John Butler joins from Hannover Re as partner while Roman Muraviev becomes an associate.

    Butler is currently senior underwriter in Hannover's international treaty group, responsible for managing and underwriting European and Asia-Pacific property catastrophe and terrorism portfolios. His primary responsibilities for Twelve Capital will be to source .......

    Job Swaps 13 July 2012

  • Ambac RMBS play touted

    The recent decision by the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance to pay Ambac non-agency RMBS policyholders 25% of accrued and future claims in cash (SCI 12 June) should provide a significant payment - believed to be about US$800m in total - to many bondholders. These bonds could represent one way of capitalising on a housing market recovery.

    Ambac-wrapped non-agency RMBS are .......

    News 12 July 2012

  • Call for QM safeharbour

    SIFMA public policy and advocacy evp Kenneth Bentsen has testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit to discuss the Qualified Mortgage (QM) proposed rulemaking and its impact on the cost and availability of mortgage credit.

    "A broad QM definition with clear parameters and a safe harbour for compliance is vital to ensuring the continued .......

    News Round-up 12 July 2012

  • Credit opportunity fund minted

    RLJ Credit Opportunity Fund has received a license from the US Small Business Administration to operate as a Small Business Investment Company. The launch of the new fund is a continuation of The RLJ Companies' strategy to become a preeminent business in financial asset management.

    Deutsche Bank, SunTrust, Wells Fargo and Northern Trust have invested in the fund, which is .......

    News Round-up 12 July 2012
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