Complete news archive

  • BoE RMBS loan tapes analysed

    UK RMBS issuers began providing loan-level data and cashflow models to investors - as required by the Bank of England (SCI 31 October 2011) - in November. JPMorgan ABS strategists have analysed the loan tapes, with the aim of providing a broader overview of performance trends in the sector, and find that they offer additional clarity into the master trusts.

    News 16 February 2012

  • Container ABS ratings ceiling mooted

    New US container ABS transactions are seeing a resurgence following a three-year lull, Fitch notes. But the agency warns that the sector remains susceptible to a high degree of systemic, industry and specific credit risks.

    Fitch expects more new container deals over the course of this year as economic growth returns and industry funding needs increase. Performance of existing container .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • ABSXchange strengthened

    S&P Capital IQ has made various enhancements to its ABSXchange structured finance analytics platform. These improvements include allowing clients to assign liquidation schedules to loans, set loans to add interest shortfalls to the principal balance and view cashflow projections for individual loans.

    The platform has been strengthened further by enabling faster delivery of the portfolio analytics application, while the updated .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • Fundamental resilience

    Richard Cooperstein, president of RangeMark Analytics, answers SCI's questions

    Q: How and when did RangeMark Analytics become involved in the structured finance markets?
    A:     RangeMark Analytics was formed when I joined RangeMark Financial Services along with my analytics platform - Fixed-Income Valuation Platform (SCI 18 January). The aim is to supplement RangeMark's existing advisory business by licensing the platform and our other applications to financial institutions, institutional investors and government .......

    Provider Profile 15 February 2012

  • Corporate trust business boosted

    US Bank Global Corporate Trust Services has added Breige Tinnelly and Emma Hamley to its European corporate trust business in London. Tom Cubitt, svp, has been named as the team's leader.

    Tinnelly, svp, will lead the corporate trust sales team and develop the sales and business strategy. She spent seven years with BNY Mellon before joining US Bank last year. .......

    Job Swaps 15 February 2012

  • Deerfield CLO acquirer revealed

    Further details have emerged on CIFC Corp's sale of DFR Middle Market CLO (SCI 9 February). The rights and obligations to the transaction under the management agreement have been assigned to DWM Management, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group.

    See SCI's CDO Manager Transfer database for more recent assignments.

    .......

    Job Swaps 15 February 2012

  • Euro CMBS maturity warning

    Fitch says that investment grade European CMBS ratings are becoming increasingly vulnerable to downgrades as legal final maturity (LFM) approaches. This could see Europe follow the Japanese CMBS experience, where most loan maturities have now passed and the majority of loans defaulted. There have been multiple downgrades of Japanese CMBS as the remaining time in tail periods diminishes and servicers .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • Amend-and-extend activity noted

    The Aramark (which is the 11th most common exposure among US CLOs), Sabre (12th), Nuveen (57th), Caesars (62nd) and Catalent (69th) loans have all had their maturities extended recently. Research analysts at S&P note that such activity could have negative credit implications, with the lengthening maturities likely to extend the WALs of some CLOs.

    "Transactions that are post-reinvestment and mature .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • Bank tax criticised

    SIFMA has criticised President Obama's proposal to include a tax on financial institutions in his budget, under the guise of recouping lost TARP funds. The association says that it is an "ill-considered and ill-timed concept", noting that this latest proposal is nearly double the cost of previous proposals.

    "It is important to remember that TARP capital injections into banks have, .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • CLO operational due diligence recommended

    Fitch says that while manager consolidation in the US CLO market may be positive for bondholders, these newly merged companies require investors to consider operational and associated manager factors as they perform their due diligence.

    "Managers have purchased or merged with other firms to form larger institutions that now provide transatlantic scope and depth on specific issues for bondholders," the .......

    News Round-up 15 February 2012

  • SF vet joins Analysis

    John Richard has joined Analysis Group as an affiliate. Richard's investment expertise spans unsecured corporate credit and securitisations. He was a founder of the distressed CMBS Taurus Horizon Fund and previously served at State Street Global Advisors as a senior fixed income portfolio manager.

    .......

    Job Swaps 15 February 2012

  • Singapore OTC review underway

    The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is conducting a review of the regulatory oversight of the OTC derivatives market in Singapore and is seeking public comments on its proposals. In developing these proposals, MAS says it has taken into consideration international developments - such as the G20 commitments and Financial Stability Board recommendations - to improve the regulation and supervision .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012

  • Swings and roundabouts

    DVA best practises still evolving

    Debt value adjustment (DVA) became a hot topic when banks announced their 3Q11 earnings, due to the magnitude and direction of the amounts reported. Best practises for pricing and hedging DVA have yet to be established, with swings in this component of bank earnings expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

    Under accounting rules, DVA represents the amount added back .......

    News Analysis 14 February 2012

  • Law firm boosts real estate practice

    William O'Connor has joined Thompson & Knight as a partner in the firm's New York office. He recently served as chairman of the financial services practice at Crowell & Moring.

    O'Connor's practice focuses on the special servicing of CMBS and related aspects of loan workouts. He is a founding member and chairman of the high yield debt and investment forum .......

    Job Swaps 14 February 2012

  • Record week for CLO BWICs

    Last week was one of the busiest the US secondary CLO market has seen since 2Q11. Bid list volume was US$1.3bn, the largest weekly amount in a year.

    Trading off the lists was strong and 99% of paper was traded, with the Street taking down about half of the volume. All tranches were represented on the lists, but the highest .......

    News 14 February 2012

  • OPERA UNI default anticipated

    Opera Finance (Uni-Invest) will become the first European CMBS to fail to repay by its legal final, if it defaults - as is expected - tomorrow. A senior noteholder steering committee has been involved in discussions about resolution options, but an announcement on the strategy is unlikely before Friday, according to structured finance strategists at Chalkhill Partners.

    They expect that .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012

  • First Freddie transfer

    The Retreat at Stonebridge Ranch loan securitised in the Freddie Mac SPC Series K-704 CMBS was transferred to special servicing yesterday. It is believed to be the first time this has happened to a large loan securitised in the Freddie Mac K series.

    According to an update from Fitch, the US$29.41m multifamily loan transferred to the special servicer following the .......

    News 14 February 2012

  • Conflict of interest rules examined

    In a comment letter filed with the SEC, SIFMA expressed its appreciation for the intent of Section 621 of the Dodd-Frank Act and agreed that certain reforms may be necessary to ensure that securitisation transaction parties are not creating and selling ABS that are intentionally designed to fail or default and profiting from the failure or default. At the same .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012

  • Proprietary credit scores tested against FICO

    S&P recently compared the relative value of proprietary credit scores with FICO scores to see which was better at gauging the future performance of subprime auto ABS transactions.

    FICO scores are common measures of creditworthiness, but they primarily reflect borrowers' prior credit behaviour. According to Amy Martin, a senior director in S&P's ABS ratings group, many subprime auto finance companies .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012

  • Volcker proposals slammed

    Yesterday marked the deadline for public comment on the Volcker Rule, which has seen a flurry of criticism from industry players. The final rule - which prohibits institutions from trading certain securities and making certain investments in funds for their own accounts - is set to take effect on 21 July.

    Allen & Overy, for one, contends that the Volcker .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012

  • Flexibility sought for counterparty criteria

    Fitch is set to propose enhancements to its structured finance (SF) counterparty criteria. The proposals will build on the existing framework in order to allow more flexibility to keep pace with a rapidly changing counterparty environment.

    The proposals will be detailed in a consultation paper in March, with a one-month period for market participants to provide feedback. Fitch expects limited .......

    News Round-up 14 February 2012
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