Complete news archive

  • BGC boosts real estate team

    Garett Stoffels has joined BGC Partners as senior md and head of equity capital markets for the real estate capital markets group. He will be based in New York and report to Michael Lehrman, global head of real estate.

    Stoffels was previously global head of Cantor Fitzgerald's private capital group. He has also worked as co-head of direct private placements .......

    Job Swaps 8 June 2012

  • CMBS stress tested

    Triple-A rated US CMBS classes generally would be able to withstand a hypothetical severe recession and further deterioration in the real estate markets, according to recent stress tests conducted by Fitch. While the agency would expect a significant level of downgrades in a severe stress scenario, its prospective analysis shows that 67% of triple-A ratings would remain investment grade.

    Fitch .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Risk retention recommendations made

    IOSCO has published a consultation report entitled 'Global Developments in Securitization Regulation', which seeks public comment on policy issues arising from the work of its Task Force on Unregulated Markets and Products (TFUMP). The paper is in response to a request from the Financial Stability Board (FSB) as part of its work to strengthen oversight and regulation of the shadow .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • OTC compliance service, protocol prepped

    ISDA and Markit are developing a technology-based solution that enables counterparties to amend their OTC derivatives documentation for the purpose of facilitating compliance with Dodd-Frank regulatory requirements. The solution is expected to be enhanced to facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements in other jurisdictions as they are finalised.

    ISDA is leading an industry-wide initiative to produce a series of amendments to .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Loan pay-offs plummet

    The percentage of US CMBS loans paying off on their balloon date plummeted to the lowest level since October 2010, according to Trepp's latest pay-off report. Only 29.4% of loans reaching their balloon date paid off in May, well under the 12-month average of 43.6%.

    By loan count as opposed to balance, 57.3% of the loans paid off. On the .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Investor perceptions surveyed

    JPMorgan has surveyed changes in investor perception of the consumer ABS market since September 2011. The results confirm that benchmark ABS asset classes - such as the auto loan and credit card sectors - enjoy the highest participation rates, while the more esoteric and riskier asset classes are less liquid.

    Banks generally invest in less esoteric and more triple-A rated .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Retrenchment rules

    CDO technology harnessed for funding purposes

    A profound shift in how large cap credit is provided in Europe is underway, having historically been dominated by banks. While the trend is helping to suppress traditional CLO issuance for now, CDO technology more broadly is still being harnessed for funding purposes.

    "In general, any class of credit where banks dominated is now seeing elevated spreads, which are required .......

    News Analysis 7 June 2012

  • SME funding gap emerging

    Fitch notes in its latest European SME CLO Performance Tracker that the reduction in bank lending has led to significant strains on SME funding in Europe. Structural initiatives by European governments to stimulate lending have fallen short of addressing the funding gap that is critical to the financial viability of SMEs, the agency says.

    In particular, SME securitisation economics are .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Low recovery for Res Cap CDS

    The final price for Residential Capital CDS was determined to be 17.625. Twelve dealers submitted initial markets, physical settlement requests and limit orders to yesterday's auction to settle trades across the market referencing the entity.

    .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • MILAN methodology updated

    Moody's has published updated assumptions and methodology used in its MILAN RMBS collateral analysis model, following its RFC on the proposals (SCI 9 December 2011). The ratings of 27 EMEA RMBS transactions are negatively affected as a result.

    Key changes to the methodology include: the introduction of a transaction minimum credit enhancement level; an updated approach to determine house-price stresses; .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Alt-A RMBS ratings targeted

    Fitch has reviewed over 10,000 classes in 751 US Alt-A RMBS transactions. The agency is also set to release a revised mortgage loss model for the Alt-A sector within the next two months.

    As a result of the review, the agency has: affirmed 82% of the classes; downgraded 9%; and placed on rating watch negative 9%. Of the downgrades, 99% .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Aussie RMBS performance report debuts

    Moody's has introduced a new quarterly report tracking the performance of the Australian RMBS market. The first report contains performance data for 1Q12, covering the prime and non-conforming sectors.

    "In response to investor feedback, the report is excel-based and covers the delinquency and loss performance of Moody's-monitored RMBS transactions, as well as several other key indicators," says Alena Chen, a .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • CLO maturity profile lengthens

    The average maturity profile of the underlying loans across Fitch-rated European CLOs has been pushed out by manager trading activities and amend-and-extends. Loans maturing in the 2013/2014 bucket have dropped to 21.9% from 42.5% over the past year, with a corresponding increase in the 2016-2019 bucket (46.8% from 24.84%).

    Defaults have increased since May 2011, with the current average defaulted .......

    News Round-up 7 June 2012

  • Independent council examines systemic risk

    The Systemic Risk Council will convene this month to monitor and encourage reform of US capital markets, focusing on systemic risk. The council intends to issue a call to action on 18 June detailing its objectives and future plans.

    The council was formed by The Pew Charitable Trusts and CFA Institute and is led by former FDIC chair Sheila Bair. .......

    Job Swaps 7 June 2012

  • CRE firm continues expansion

    James Cope and Patrick Dempsey have joined Walker & Dunlop as svps in the firm's new Milwaukee office. The pair will focus on financing all types of income-producing properties including office, apartments, hotels, industrial and retail in the Midwest.

    Cope and Dempsey each join from Grandbridge Real Estate Capital where they specialised in originating and structuring CRE financing for all .......

    Job Swaps 7 June 2012

  • SEC issues CMBS fine

    The US SEC has charged OppenheimerFunds and its sales and distribution arm with making misleading statements about two of its mutual funds. Oppenheimer has agreed to pay more than US$35m to settle the charges.

    The SEC found Oppenheimer used TRS contracts to add CMBS exposure for the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund and Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund in 2008 without adequately .......

    Job Swaps 7 June 2012

  • Greek country ceiling lowered

    Moody's has downgraded to Caa2 the ratings of the most senior securities in nine Greek structured finance (SF) transactions and to Caa3 the ratings of subordinated securities in six transactions. Moody's also placed all the Caa2 andCaa3 ratings of Greek SF securities under review for further downgrade.

    The rating actions follow Moody's lowering of its Greek country ceiling to Caa2 .......

    News Round-up 6 June 2012

  • CDS tear-ups continue apace

    ISDA has released its analysis of the OTC derivatives market based on year-end 2011 statistics. It shows that adjusted volumes of OTC derivatives declined by 10.3% from June 2011 to US$440trn, taking into account double-counting of cleared transactions and excluding FX volumes.

    Cumulative compression activity in the interest rate swap and credit default swap markets have reduced notionals by just .......

    News Round-up 6 June 2012

  • Dealing with data

    The operational challenges facing investors in an increasingly data-rich world

    For years, structured credit and ABS investors have struggled to get access to comprehensive data for the assets in their portfolios. Now, driven by regulatory initiatives in Europe, the UK and US, there is far greater transparency of data on securitisations.

    However, the job is far from complete. There are still gaps in the data set and, more importantly, investors .......

    Talking Point 6 June 2012

  • CVA pricing disparities to persist

    Celent estimates in a new report that in excess of US$850m will be spent during 2012 on counterparty risk and CVA management systems, rising at a CAGR of 9.6% to US$1.1bn in 2015. Investment in CVA capabilities will be undertaken not only by tier 1 dealers, but also by regional and local banks in order to reduce, mitigate and optimise .......

    News Round-up 6 June 2012

  • RFC issued on mortgage data

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is seeking public comment on new data and information that it has received as part of the Dodd-Frank Act's requirement for lenders to assess consumers' ability to repay mortgage loans before extending them credit.

    The CFPB has received data from the FHFA tracking the performance of loans purchased or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and .......

    News Round-up 6 June 2012
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