Complete news archive

  • 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

  • Resi exposures weighing on US banks

    Performance of the US banking industry will continue to be weighed down by elevated losses from residential real estate exposure, according to Fitch.

    The agency estimates that the top 20 banks could incur aggregate losses in excess of US$80bn on home equity and one to four family portfolios over the next three years. This estimate represents a loss rate of .......

    News Round-up 27 February 2012

  • CACs in play?

    CDS market 'perks up' ahead of Greek bond exchange

    Low participation rates in the forthcoming Greek government bond exchange are expected to bring collective action clauses (CACs) into play, thus triggering CDS contracts on the sovereign (see also SCI 26 January). However, the impact on the market is likely to be minimal, given the small net notional of Greek CDS outstanding.

    A recent RBS investor poll on the Greek .......

    News Analysis 27 February 2012

  • Liquidity issues

    Steps taken to address LCR requirements

    The securitisation industry remains hopeful that highly rated ABS will ultimately be eligible under the Basel 3 liquidity coverage ratio (LCR). In the meantime, steps are being taken to address the treatment under the LCR of unused bank commitments that support ABS structures.

    In their present form, Basel 3 banking regulations exclude ABS from the list of securities eligible for .......

    News Analysis 27 February 2012

  • SCI Start the Week - 27 February

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

    Pipeline
    Another busy week for the pipeline saw a variety of new deals remaining on Friday. Barclays is in the market with Gracechurch Card Programme Funding 2012-1 and 2012-2, which are sized at £750m-equivalent and €300m respectively.
    American Money Management has announced AMMC CLO X, a US$400m CLO, while Chubb is in the market with East Lane Re V - a US$125m .......

    News 27 February 2012

  • Credit card delinquencies hit record lows

    US credit card charge-offs declined to 4.98% in January, the lowest level since November 2007, according to Moody's Credit Card Indices. Early-stage delinquencies also fell to new record lows, pointing to further declines in charge-offs in the months ahead.

    Moody's expects the charge-off rate to continue to fall well into the coming year, eventually moving to below 4% by the .......

    News Round-up 27 February 2012

  • Healthy CLO supply continues

    Three US CLOs printed in quick succession last week, bringing year-to-date supply to nearly US$3bn. The new pricings comprise Octagon Credit Investor's US$358m Octagon Investment Partners XII (whose triple-A tranche came at 146bp over Libor), Onex Credit Partners' US$327m OCP CLO 2012-1 (150bp over) and Invesco Senior Secured Management's US$350m Avalon IV (150bp) via Deutsche Bank, Citi and UBS respectively. .......

    News Round-up 27 February 2012

  • Time in special servicing on the rise

    US CMBS loans are spending more time in special servicing, according to a new report from Fitch.

    The number of months in special servicing has increased to 16.9 months on average as of year-end 2011 from 12.8 as of year-end 2010 and 9.02 as of year-end 2009. Fitch says the increase in time is due to several factors, including unprecedented .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • Busted swap claim agreed

    ESAIL 2007-PR1 class A noteholders have approved an extraordinary resolution in a meeting held on 17 February that terminates the hedging agreement with Lehman Brothers Holding Inc (SCI 24 January). They have agreed to a stipulated and 'agreed claim amount' of US$106m - believed to only be the second Lehman 'busted swap' transaction to reach an agreed claim amount.

    The .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • Kroll publishes multi-borrower criteria

    Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) has published its methodology for rating US CMBS multi-borrower transactions. It will typically be used for transactions with at least 30 loans that are secured by properties that are diverse relative to the geographic location, property type and sponsor.

    KBRA says it developed the criteria with several guiding principles, the most important of which was .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • Loan transfer disputed

    Hatfield Philips, the original special servicer on DECO 8 - UK Conduit 2, has disputed the transfer of special servicing of eight of the 14 loans backing the transaction to Solutus Advisors. The development is said to have significant implications for the rights of junior noteholders of the deal.

    Hatfield Philips says that it is in discussions with the issuer .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • Dutch CMBS risks highlighted

    Recent developments in Dutch CRE loans highlight the risks in the sector and the potential impact on European CMBS transactions, Fitch reports.

    Prime asset values appear to have stabilised, but secondary commercial real estate values continue to decline in the Netherlands, the agency says. A combination of falling rental levels - driven by declining occupier demand, sustained high vacancy and .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • CIR methodology released

    Moody's has published its methodology for counterparty instrument ratings (CIRs), after releasing a request for comment on its proposals last September (SCI 20 September 2011). A CIR addresses the expected loss posed to a counterparty in relation to the payment obligations of an SPV under a financial instrument in a structured finance transaction. The methodology relies on an analysis of .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2012

  • UPC extension confirmed

    UPC Holding, the largest single obligor in the CLO universe, has confirmed its TLS debt extension (SCI 16 February). The extension - which pushes out the facility maturity from 2016 to 2019 - was adopted, despite the low consent fee (25bp) and zero margin uplift to debt holders.

    CLO managers currently hold over 51% of the UPC's TLS debt, according .......

    News Round-up 23 February 2012

  • Indian firm names SF md

    Violet Arch Capital Advisors has appointed Ravi Agarwal as structured finance md. Agarwal joins the Mumbai-based company from Spinnaker Capital, where he was md for Indian operations.

    .......

    Job Swaps 23 February 2012

  • Taking a view

    The evolution of CVA discussed

    Representatives from SunGard and Navigant Capital Advisors recently came together to discuss current themes related to CVA and counterparty risk in a live webinar, hosted by SCI (view the webinar here). Topics included the implementation of relevant infrastructure, regulatory issues, the changing role of the CVA desk, hedging strategies and the securitisation of CVA and DVA. This Q&A .......

    News Analysis 23 February 2012

  • Eastman Kodak results in

    The final price of Eastman Kodak Co CDS was determined to be 23.875 at yesterday's auction. 13 dealers submitted initial markets, physical settlement requests and limit orders to settle trades across the market referencing the name.

    .......

    News Round-up 23 February 2012

  • Slow improvement seen in shadow inventory

    The percentage of US residential mortgage delinquencies and new foreclosures started in 4Q11 declined modestly from the previous quarter, as well as from the levels seen a year ago, according to S&P.

    "We believe decreasing delinquencies represent a positive trend for the underlying collateral performance of US RMBS and the housing market's recovery," comments S&P primary research analyst Erkan Erturk. .......

    News Round-up 23 February 2012

  • Further sovereign-linked ratings cut

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 21 notes and placed on review for downgrade the rating on one note from 19 structured finance transactions exposed to assets located in Portugal (SCI passim). The move follows the lowering of the highest achievable structured finance ratings in Portugal, prompted by the downgrade of the Portuguese sovereign rating on 13 February from A2 .......

    News Round-up 23 February 2012

  • IO ratings hit

    Following its introduction of a global methodology for rating structured finance interest-only securities (SCI 22 February), Moody's has affirmed nine, upgraded three, downgraded and placed on review for possible downgrade one and downgraded 85 IO classes from 51 large loan/single-borrower CMBS issued between 1997 and 2011. At the same time, the agency affirmed the ratings of 148, downgraded 427, and .......

    News Round-up 23 February 2012

  • Momentum builds

    Asian issuers look to emulate Aussie covered bond success

    Momentum in the Asia-Pacific covered bond sector is building. While the implementation of new legislation in Australia has triggered significant issuance from that jurisdiction, activity in South Korea and Singapore is expected to materialise within the next few months.

    "Almost every Korean bank is looking to do a covered bond," says Warren Lee, global head of structured finance solutions at .......

    News Analysis 23 February 2012
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