Complete news archive

  • Trimaran acquired

    Kohlberg Capital Corporation has acquired Trimaran Advisors, along with equity interests in certain CLOs managed by the firm. The purchase price consisted of approximately US$25m in cash and 3.6 million shares of Kohlberg Capital common stock.

    Trimaran Advisors currently manages four CLOs with aggregate assets under management of approximately US$1.5bn. The firm focuses primarily on below investment grade corporate debt, .......

    Job Swaps 1 March 2012

  • 'Quiet' month ahead for Euro CMBS maturities

    Fitch says in its latest European CMBS bulletin that like February, March 2012 will be a quiet month for scheduled loan maturities.

    Only one loan is due to mature, The Zeloof Partnership, securitised in Victoria Funding (EMC-III) and serviced by Capita Asset Services (Ireland). The servicer has indicated that the borrower's intention is to repay the loan in full at .......

    News Round-up 1 March 2012

  • OTC software development kit offered

    Numerix has announced the availability of its LiquidAsset SDK (Software Development Kit). The offering is designed to scale as an institution's modeling or investment requirements grow and integrate Numerix's market standard analytics into the institution's own system or that of a third party using a C++ interface. C# and Java interfaces are due to be added to the service in .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Elpida credit event called

    ISDA's Japan Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has resolved that a bankruptcy credit event occurred in respect of Elpida Memory Inc. An auction for outstanding CDS transactions will be held in due course.

    .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Up-tick in defaults forecast for leveraged loans

    European CLOs have benefited from lower-than-expected leveraged loan default rates, but Fitch predicts that defaults will markedly increase as weaker borrowers have to refinance their debt. The cumulative default rate for leveraged loans in CLOs since the start of the financial crisis in 2007 is 13%; given the loan ratings then, the agency says it would have expected that number .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Euro CLO performance strong, despite challenges

    Fitch notes that while European CLOs have to date performed to expectations with fewer defaults than forecast, fundamental and structural challenges remain for the sector.

    Fitch-rated CLO tranches have seen no losses to date - partly due to the prevailing low interest rate environment, as well as stressed credits amending and extending. The average credit quality of the underlying loans .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Smurfit loan extensions agreed

    Smurfit Kappa, one of the largest obligors in the European CLO universe, disclosed that it has received consents in excess of 95% for the amend-to-extend request to its loan facilities sent out this month. The minimum level of consent required was 66.66%, according to European asset-backed analysts at RBS.

    In addition, lenders holding in excess of 85% of Smurfit's B/C .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • ML II wound down

    The remaining securities in the Maiden Lane II portfolio have been sold. The New York Fed's management of the ML II portfolio will result in full repayment of its US$19.5bn loan and generate a net gain for the benefit of the public of approximately US$2.8bn, including US$580m in accrued interest.

    In the latest sale, assets with a current face amount .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • OTC clearing recommendations released

    The IOSCO Technical Committee has published a report detailing its recommendations that authorities should follow in establishing a mandatory clearing regime for standardised OTC derivatives in support of the G20's commitments to improve transparency, mitigate systemic risk and protect against market abuse in these markets. Determination of whether mandatory clearing should apply to a product or set of products, consideration .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Greek DC decision due tomorrow

    ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee has accepted for consideration the question relating to a potential restructuring credit event with respect to the Hellenic Republic (SCI 28 February). A meeting will be held tomorrow to determine whether a credit event has occurred.

    .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • GSE plan 'promising' for agency, non-agency RMBS

    Fitch believes that the FHFA's strategic plan (SCI 22 February) is promising for agency and private label RMBS. It could encourage private capital into the market, improve liquidity, increase transparency and shrink GSE liabilities, the agency says. Additionally, certain facilities already being utilised in the private sector could make several of the proposals less costly and provide for a shorter .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Euro CDS tighter on improved sentiment

    Improving market sentiment throughout most of Europe has driven credit default swap (CDS) spreads in the region tighter by nearly 4%, according to Fitch Solutions. Helping to drive the improved market sentiment has been European sovereign CDS, which have come in by 4%.

    Central and Eastern European countries saw the most improvement. "Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic were at the .......

    News Round-up 29 February 2012

  • Queen Street V closes

    Munich Re's latest catastrophe bond Queen Street V Re (SCI 10 February) has closed. The US$75m deal covers major North Atlantic hurricane risk between April 2012 and March 2015 and major European windstorms between October 2012 and March 2015.

    The transaction's single tranche priced at 850bp over Treasury money market funds. It is rated single-B plus by S&P.

    Munich Re .......

    News Round-up 28 February 2012

  • Highland CLO acquisition completed

    The Carlyle Group has completed the acquisition of four management contracts on €2.1bn in European CLO assets from Highland Capital Management. The acquisition brings Carlyle's CLO assets under management to US$16bn via 32 transactions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

    The transaction is Carlyle's first CLO purchase in Europe and builds upon a series of recent CLO acquisitions, including the additions .......

    Job Swaps 28 February 2012

  • Increased MVD for Brazilian RMBS

    Fitch has updated its rating criteria for assessing credit risk in Brazilian RMBS. The changes focus on revised assumptions relating to the estimation of default and recovery rates for Brazilian mortgage portfolios with a more forward-looking approach. The revised assumptions include increased market value decline (MVD) assumptions and increased expected foreclosure frequencies, including adjustments for specific product and borrower characteristics.

    News Round-up 28 February 2012

  • Bespoke CLN executed electronically

    Traccr has announced that a Swiss client executed a US$5m bespoke CLN via its electronic platform. The client benefited from live CLN axes posted by dealers to their respective networks of clients - a unique feature recently added to the Traccr offering.

    According to Farooq Jaffrey, ceo of Traccr, the client posted request-for-quotes for a CLN referencing an Indian resources .......

    News Round-up 28 February 2012

  • Euro CMBS trading up

    The European secondary CMBS market has been trading up recently. Investor demand is particularly focused on the top of the capital structure, although not necessarily only for top-quality deals, while BWIC activity has also been strong.

    "There has certainly been some activity in the market and it is trading up. That has been the trend for a while now, with .......

    Market Reports 28 February 2012

  • 'Blueprint' trials

    Countrywide settlement moves closer

    Bank of America's US$8.5bn Countrywide RMBS settlement case has returned from federal court to New York state court, likely hastening its approval. A resolution of the settlement is expected to provide a blueprint for similar cases against other large originators.

    Securitisation analysts at Barclays Capital believe that the return of the Countrywide case to New York is preferable to it .......

    News Analysis 28 February 2012

  • Ambac settlement offer, amended plan unveiled

    Ambac Financial has, after several months of negotiations, made a settlement offer to the US Internal Revenue Service relating to the dispute regarding the tax treatment of CDS contracts. The IRS has not yet accepted this settlement offer, however.

    The principal terms of the settlement offer include: a US$100m payment by the segregated account of Ambac Assurance Corporation; a US$1.9m .......

    Job Swaps 28 February 2012

  • DC deliberating Greek question

    ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee is deliberating whether a restructuring credit event has occurred in connection with the Hellenic Republic, following the submission of a general interest question. It will decide whether to accept the question for deliberation or reject it by the end of tomorrow.

    The submission cites the passage by the Greek parliament of legislation that approves the implementation .......

    News Round-up 28 February 2012

  • Marginal increase seen in Trups CDO defaults

    US bank Trups CDOs began 2012 with a marginal increase in both defaults and deferrals, according to Fitch's latest index results for the sector. Defaults rose to 16.74% from 16.71%, while deferrals increased by 0.54% to14.92%. The combined default and deferral rate for bank Trups CDOs now stands at 31.67%.

    A closer look at the numbers reveals that two new .......

    News Round-up 28 February 2012
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