Complete news archive

  • CLO reinvestment periods targeted

    A number of corporate issuers appear to be carving out loans compatible with WAL constraints for CLOs nearing the end of reinvestment periods. The proposed US$3.7bn financing backing the Infor and Lawson merger includes a US$400m tranche with 4.5-year maturity tailored for CLOs, according to LCD. Gettyimages, First Data and Kinetic Concepts also recently issued loans targeting CLO participation.

    .......

    News Round-up 23 March 2012

  • Private SLABS at risk

    The New York Fed recently reported that as many as 27% of all US student loan borrowers are more than 30 days past due, with recent estimates suggesting that US$900bn-US$1trn of student loans are outstanding. Fitch believes that the recent increase in past-due and defaulted student loans presents a risk to investors in private student loan ABS, but not those .......

    News Round-up 23 March 2012

  • Foreclosure timelines set to increase

    Foreclosure timelines will continue to lengthen, according to Moody's latest RMBS Servicer Dashboard report. The average timeline as of 31 December 2011 stood at 654 days in judicial states and 297 days in non-judicial states.

    "As these aged foreclosures work their way through the foreclosure process, we expect to see these timelines continue to increase," says William Fricke, a Moody's .......

    News Round-up 23 March 2012

  • Regional ERF differences persist

    Fitch has published the 1Q12 economic risk factors (ERFs) applied in its prime residential mortgage loan loss model.

    Default risk - though still elevated - continues to decline since peaking in mid-2007 and economic indicators are showing positive momentum, the agency notes. However, the ongoing housing correction and the high number of long-term unemployed continue to weigh on the recovery.

    News Round-up 23 March 2012

  • Credit managers join SME scheme

    The UK government is looking to invest up to £700m with a shortlist of seven fund managers. The managers in the running are: Alcentra, Ares Management, Cairn Capital, Haymarket Financial, M&G Investment Management, Palio Capital Partners and Pricoa Capital.

    The money is part of the government's £1bn business finance partnership (BFP), to be used to help UK SMEs and mid-sized .......

    Job Swaps 23 March 2012

  • Investor-placed issuance recovering

    Much of the European ABS sector has seen investor-placed issuance recover significantly since the financial crisis, according to S&P. Overall, investor-placed European ABS issuance was just over €20bn last year - more than double 2010 volumes - albeit with collateral largely focused on German autos and UK credit cards.

    Indeed, investor-placed issuance in auto and credit card ABS bounced back .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Issuing impetus

    Bumper CLO issuance spurring return to market heights, tights

    February saw the largest monthly volume of new CLO issuance since the financial crisis. With plenty of deals remaining in the pipeline, the ability of the market to continue absorbing the supply, as well as the impact of primary issuance on secondary prices and how conservatively the rating agencies approach the new transactions will be key concerns.

    The US$2.54bn issued .......

    News Analysis 22 March 2012

  • NY seminar draws near

    Today is the last day for buy-side market participants to register for a complementary pass to SCI's Pricing, Trading & Risk Management Seminar, which is taking place on 29 March in New York. The event is being held at Bingham McCutchen's offices at 399 Park Avenue.

    This conference will focus on risk management issues, trading and secondary markets, discussing strategies .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Congress urged to tackle swaps indemnification

    The DTCC has urged the US Congress to pass new bipartisan legislation to prevent fragmentation of global swaps data and ensure the highest degree of transparency into OTC derivatives markets. Indemnification and a second issue - known as 'plenary access' - need to be addressed concurrently otherwise data fragmentation is likely to occur, the firm says.

    In testimony before the .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • ABS CDOs transferred

    Ischus Capital Management has been appointed successor collateral manager for GSC ABS CDO 2006-4u. The new collateral management agreement essentially follows the key terms and provisions of the existing agreement.

    Separately, ING Capital has assigned the collateral administrator agreement for Ajax Two to ING Global Investment Strategies.

    Moody's notes that these actions won't cause the current ratings of the affected .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Insolvency event for mezz SME CLO

    Chamartín Meermann Immobilien, portfolio company no. 41 in the H.E.A.T. Mezzanine I-2006 SME CLO, has filed for insolvency. However, the insolvency event will not have an immediate effect on the transaction as the principal amount of the SOLA obligation (€4m) will only be recorded to the principal deficiency ledger in case of a principal deficiency event. The deal's current outstanding .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Greek saga highlights CDS shortcomings

    As the dust settles on Monday's Greek CDS auction (SCI 19 March), market participants seem happy to move on from a saga that has dominated headlines for so long. But the overall process has highlighted shortcomings in sovereign CDS - particularly with regards to PSI and CACs - and the risk remains that the next auction of this type might .......

    News 22 March 2012

  • ILS specialists switch firms

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher has hired a team of 12 insurance transactional and regulatory lawyers. The team joins from Dewey & LeBoeuf and will continue its ILS work from Willkie's New York, London and Washington DC offices.

    The team is led by Alexander Dye, Michael Groll, Robert Rachofsky and John Schwolsky. It represents insurance companies, investment banks, sponsors and other .......

    Job Swaps 22 March 2012

  • Elpida Memory CDS settled

    The final price for Elpida Memory CDS was determined to be 21 during this morning's auction. 13 dealers submitted initial markets, physical settlement requests and limit orders to the auction to settle trades across the market referencing the entity.

    Separately, an LCDS auction is scheduled for 28 March to settle the credit derivative trades for Financiere Gaillon 7. Financière Gaillon .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Risk appetite reflected in swaps activity

    US commercial banks reported trading revenue of US$2.5bn in 4Q11, according to the OCC's latest quarterly report on bank trading and derivatives activities. These figures are 70% lower than Q3 revenues of US$8.5bn and 27% lower than in 4Q10.

    "The seasonal decline in revenues we typically see in the fourth quarter of each year was made a bit worse by .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Swaps business conduct rules released

    The CFTC recently published final rules governing the standards by which swap dealers and major swap participants must conduct their dealings with counterparties under the Dodd-Frank Act. Most of the business conduct rules apply to both swap dealers and major swap participants, while others apply only to swap dealers. Firms will need to comply with the new rules by the .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • US CMBS loss severities hit highs

    The weighted average loss severity for loans in US CMBS liquidated at a loss was 41% in the fourth quarter, up from 39.7% in the third, and the highest severity since the inception of Moody's quarterly US CMBS Loss Severities report. Excluding those with 'de minimis' losses (of less than 2%), the historical weighted average loss severity for all liquidated .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Card charge-offs hold steady

    US credit card charge-offs held steady in February, as the charge-off rate index fell 1bp below its January level to 4.97%, according to Moody's Credit Card Indices. The agency expects the charge-off rate to start falling in the coming quarter and end 2012 at about 4%.

    The delinquency rate index also declined, by 7bp to 2.86%, setting yet another all-time .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • Call to extend Volcker implementation

    The American Securitization Forum has submitted a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services, as well as the Fed, the FDIC, the OCC, the CFTC and the SEC requesting a correction to the statutory implementation date of the Volcker Rule. The rule is currently expected to become effective on .......

    News Round-up 22 March 2012

  • New role for CRE vet

    David Eyzenberg has joined Avison Young in New York as principal. He joins the CRE firm's capital markets team and will be responsible for providing representation to owners, developers and investors seeking to access institutional capital and assets.

    Eyzenberg joins from NewOak Capital where he was md and head of the firm's real estate division. He was president of Prodigious .......

    Job Swaps 22 March 2012

  • Bottleneck breakers

    As banks come under severe pressure and pull out of many areas of the securitisation market, the opportunity set for non-bank finance companies is growing. At the same time, sophisticated investors are seeking liability-driven investments with stable and attractive long-term cashflows, prompting some players to try to connect these sources of supply and demand.

    NewOak Capital Management, for one, is .......

    News 22 March 2012
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