Complete news archive

  • TARP wind-down continues

    The US Treasury has agreed to sell 206,896,552 shares of its AIG common stock at US$29 per share, with the aggregate proceeds expected to be approximately US$6bn. AIG will purchase 103,448,276 of the shares, representing half of the expected proceeds from the sale.

    "We're continuing to move forward to wind down TARP and exit our stakes in private companies as .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2012

  • LSOC benefits outlined

    The CFTC has issued under the Dodd-Frank Act its final rules requiring FCMs and derivatives clearing organisations (DCOs) to segregate customer collateral with respect to cleared swaps. The CFTC adopted the legal segregation with operational commingling (LSOC) model, which prohibits FCMs and DCOs from commingling customer collateral with their own funds, but permits FCMs and DCOs to commingle customer collateral .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2012

  • CLO supply supporting loan fundamentals

    The pick-up in CLO volumes early in 2012 is supporting an improvement in leveraged loan market fundamentals, Fitch notes. The agency expects the growing pipeline of CLO deals to keep loan spreads relatively tight, leading more leveraged borrowers to tap the loan market in order to refinance heavy 2013 and 2014 maturities.

    The improved tone of the leveraged loan market, .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2012

  • Investment firm expands, enters partnership

    Four Wood Capital Partners has announced a number of hires and entered into an exclusive partnership with Stratum Capital Advisors. Stratum chief Andrew Yorks will now serve as senior advisor to Four Wood's portfolio management group.

    Yorks has 20 years of experience as a fixed income portfolio manager specialising in alternative credit and derivatives. Before founding Stratum he was md .......

    Job Swaps 9 March 2012

  • Multifamily CMBS lags recovery

    The recovery being seen in the US apartment sector hasn't trickled down to multifamily CMBS, according to a new report from S&P. The rating agency notes that despite a solid recovery that includes a 5% annualised rise in apartment rents through 4Q11, delinquencies for multifamily CMBS are still near record highs.

    Although the delinquency rate had declined to 13.58% of .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2012

  • Greek CDS trigger expected

    ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee is meeting at 1pm GMT today to determine whether a credit event has occurred with respect to the Hellenic Republic. The move follows yesterday's successful PSI debt swap - albeit collective action clauses (CACs) were activated on Greek law bonds, which are expected to trigger CDS contracts.

    €152bn out of €177bn Greek law bonds were tendered .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2012

  • Dealers drive RMBS prices up

    European primary RMBS issuance may have been limited lately, but spreads in the secondary market have tightened considerably. Dealers have been driving secondary prices up and one trader believes that spreads may tighten even further.

    The trader is very positive about the secondary market and says the tone is "really positive". He notes: "Dealers before were complaining about lack of .......

    Market Reports 8 March 2012

  • CMBS loan liquidations retreat

    The volume of CMBS conduit loans liquidated in February retreated sharply, falling by 43% from January's reading, according to Trepp. In fact, the February reading was the lowest total since November 2010.

    At US$893m, liquidations were about 32% below the 12-month moving average of US$1.31bn per month, Trepp says. Since the beginning of 2010, special servicers have been liquidating at .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2012

  • Portuguese deals hit

    S&P has taken credit rating actions on various Portuguese RMBS and ABS transactions. The move follows the downgrade on 13 January of the long-term rating on the Republic of Portugal to double-B from triple-B minus.

    The agency says it has subsequently revised its assessment of Portuguese country risk and how it might affect the ratings on the notes of Portuguese .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2012

  • Gap grows in resi liquidation rates

    The large difference in liquidation rates between US states grew during 4Q11, according to S&P. The agency notes that the increasing timelines are primarily due to extreme foreclosure delays in states with judicial foreclosure procedures, with the number of estimated months needed to clear the supply of distressed homes rising by two months to 47 months.

    "The volume of these .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2012

  • German set-off risk warning

    A series of higher regional court decisions regarding loan handling fees for German consumer loans could expose securitisations to additional set-off risk. Fitch says it will review the potential impact on existing ratings on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

    The court rulings invalidate administration fees that were charged to set up a loan. The risk to German ABS transactions is that borrowers .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2012

  • ML II assets revealed

    Empirasign has filed a successful Freedom of Information Act request and obtained the contents of the secret auction of Maiden Lane II securities that took place on 19 January. In a highly unusual move, participants in this auction were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep the list contents and execution prices confidential for one year. The list comprises .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2012

  • GRAND plan nears

    Substantial progress has been made in discussions between Deutsche Annington (DAIG) and the ad hoc noteholder group over restructuring the GRAND CMBS (SCI passim). A plan to extend the transaction through a solvent scheme of arrangement is "near finality" and is expected to be proposed to all noteholders in the coming weeks.

    DAIG reportedly plans to refinance €500m of the .......

    News 8 March 2012

  • LCR uncertainty removed?

    A new marked-up version of CRD IV has sparked hopes that high quality RMBS will be included as an eligible asset under the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) after all. A version of the draft directive published in late January contained language that, while initially raising optimism about the prospect, ultimately caused confusion.

    The latest 816-page draft appears to remove this .......

    News 8 March 2012

  • Capex concerns

    UK water companies to return to securitisation

    The UK Environment Agency has put the South East of England on drought status, with reservoir levels in the region already 20% lower than normal. To help fund additional capital expenditure - both to mitigate the impact of the drought and to manage long-term operating costs - a number of water companies are expected to tap the securitisation market this .......

    News Analysis 7 March 2012

  • EMEA RMBS losses remain low

    Only a single EMEA RMBS transaction has realised losses to date, according to Fitch, with total credit losses in the sector expected to remain low. Transaction performance varies across vintages and jurisdictions, but the dominant prime UK and Dutch RMBS sectors aren't expected to generate any losses.

    "Credit losses for EMEA RMBS transactions - both realised and expected - are .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2012

  • CDS spreads firming

    Fitch Solutions reports that global CDS liquidity continued to increase over the last month to 2 March, with CDS on developed-market sovereigns continuing to trade with the most liquidity.

    "Sovereign CDS liquidity is being driven by rising market uncertainty over Greek CDS triggers for a credit event and the potential wider impact of this for other peripheral eurozone CDS contracts," .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2012

  • European housing recovery predicted next year

    S&P anticipates a significant recovery in European housing markets in 2013, as the macroeconomic situation improves and unemployment rates start to fall. The agency believes this will boost both consumer demand and valuations for residential property.

    "In our view, the UK, Germany and France remain the largest and most attractive developed housing markets, while Russia is the most prominent emerging .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2012

  • CVA focus

    FINCAD has launched F3 2.2. The firm says its new release addresses market needs around the effects of counterparty credit risk on valuation, whether via the impact of collateral on curve building in a multi-currency framework or via CVA. It also extends the ability to build discount curves and forward curves in multiple currencies, consistent with the rate payable on .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2012

  • Greek debt swap decision awaited

    Private investors decide tomorrow (8 March) whether to accept the Greek debt swap proposal for their existing government bonds, with the results due to be discussed via teleconference the next day. Following this, ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee is expected to be asked to determine once again whether a restructuring credit event has occurred.

    But the DC may be asked to .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2012

  • EMEA SF ratings chief named

    S&P has promoted Michelle Weston to regional practice leader for structured finance ratings in EMEA. She will report to Paul Coughlin, executive md for global analytics and operations and global practice leader for structured finance ratings.

    Weston previously held both analytical and management roles within the organisation. Her most recent role was as general manager for structured finance and she .......

    Job Swaps 7 March 2012
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