Complete news archive

  • Tender offer completed

    €29.4m Faxtor ABS 2005-1 class A1 notes have been bought back at a discounted purchase price (SCI 3 January). The repurchased notes were subsequently cancelled, thereby increasing the available credit enhancement to all rated notes.

    The repurchase was funded using cash available in the principal collection account. As of January 2012, approximately €22m is available in the principal collection account.

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Slow start

    Traditional recruitment cycle yet to begin

    Structured finance recruitment tailed off towards the end of last year and the early signs are that it will take a while to restart this year. Despite the generally muted outlook, pockets of hiring activity remain.

    After the groundwork has been done before the Christmas holidays, January traditionally sees the completion of a number of job moves. However, recruitment activity .......

    News Analysis 26 January 2012

  • Euro RMBS on the up

    RMBS continues to lead the way for the European securitisation markets. Secondary trading in the sector is active, with the benchmark Granite programme in particular attracting interest.

    "The market has exhibited a pretty positive tone over the last few days. We have seen Granite triple-Bs go from the very low 50s at the start of the year to above 60 .......

    Market Reports 26 January 2012

  • Vitality III closes

    The third medical benefit claims ILS, Vitality Re III 2012-1 (SCI 13 January 2012), has closed. The two tranche deal finished as expected with US$105m of class A notes rated triple-B plus by S&P and US$45m of class B notes rated double-B plus.

    The class A notes priced at 420bp over Treasury money market funds. The class Bs came in .......

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Illinois AG files lawsuit

    A lawsuit has been filed against S&P by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The agency is accused of acting dishonestly in assigning high ratings to risky RMBS investments in the run-up to the US housing market crash.

    Madigan alleges that S&P compromised its independence by giving high ratings to risky investments as part of a deliberate strategy to increase revenue .......

    Job Swaps 26 January 2012

  • CDS saviour?

    CAC proposal could eliminate need to sidestep CDS trigger

    Serious questions are being raised about the future of CDS, following a recent credit event (see box) and the ongoing euro area sovereign crisis. However, a recent proposal by the Greek finance ministry could satisfy all parties concerned - including holders of Greek sovereign CDS.

    Greece is still paying its coupons and bonds are being repaid, but rumour is rife .......

    News Analysis 26 January 2012

  • FIG ceo steps down

    Daniel Mudd has resigned from Fortress Investment Group. He took a leave of absence from his role as ceo last month (SCI 22 December 2011).

    Mudd says: "I want to thank Fortress for the opportunity to help lead the company over the last few years. However, I do not want the uncertainty associated with a leave of absence, on my .......

    Job Swaps 26 January 2012

  • NRAM auction due

    The auction to settle the credit derivative trades for Northern Rock (Asset Management) is to be held on 2 February. ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee determined that a restructuring credit event occurred with respect to Northern Rock (Asset Management) on 15 December 2011.

    .......

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Tesco CMBS prints amid ratings review

    Tesco's latest sale-and-leaseback transaction - the £450m Tesco Property Finance 5 - has priced at 275bp over gilts via Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS. The previous four Tesco CMBS widened on the back of the news by approximately 20bp - from 240bp to 260bp.

    The latest transaction represents a true-sale credit-tenant-linked securitisation of one commercial mortgage loan, secured by .......

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Three-part Radian transaction agreed

    Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp (AGM) has entered into an agreement to reassume US$12.9bn of par it had previously ceded to Radian Asset Assurance. At the same time, Assured Guaranty Corp (AGC) has agreed to reinsure approximately US$1.8bn of Radian Asset public finance par. Assured Guaranty is also set to acquire Municipal and Infrastructure Assurance Corporation (MIAC), which is licensed to .......

    News Round-up 26 January 2012

  • Ex-Lloyds ceo joins advisory

    Eric Daniels has joined StormHarbour as a principal and senior advisor. Daniels retired from Lloyds Banking Group last year after seven years as ceo.

    Daniels will provide strategic advice and insight to StormHarbour's issuer and investor clients and to the firm's senior leadership team. He will be based in London.

    .......

    Job Swaps 26 January 2012

  • EMEA special servicing activity reviewed

    Moody's has released its latest monthly update on specially serviced EMEA CMBS loans. As of year end, 114 loans were in special servicing across the large multi-borrower and single borrower transactions the agency monitors.

    The Princes loan, securitised in Titan Europe 2007-3, was newly transferred to special servicing during December. The £9.3m loan (accounting for 1% of the pool) .......

    News Round-up 25 January 2012

  • Low expectations for refi initiative

    President Obama's State of the Union address yesterday included a section on mortgage refinancing initiatives. However, while MBS valuations could see a knee-jerk reaction as a result, ultimately the chances of this programme winning Congressional passage are believed to be low.

    In the State of the Union address, the president pledged to send Congress "a plan that gives every responsible .......

    News 25 January 2012

  • Credit manager hires for distressed team

    Avenue Capital Group has hired Stephen Trevor to lead a new initiative focusing on US and European distressed-for-control investments. Trevor joins the company from Morgan Stanley Investment Management as senior md.

    .......

    Job Swaps 25 January 2012

  • PPIP capital supporting CMBS

    Oaktree was the only firm to deploy additional Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) capital in Q4, according to the US Treasury Department's latest update on the programme. The fund deployed about US$29m in equity, increasing the total gross paid in capital by US$116mn (including Treasury equity and Treasury debt). As a result, Oaktree's reported utilisation ratio increased to 31.8% in .......

    News Round-up 24 January 2012

  • Busted swap claim mooted

    A meeting has been convened on 17 February for Eurosail Prime-UK 2007-A class A noteholders to consider, and if appropriate, pass an extraordinary resolution to terminate the hedging agreement with Lehman Brothers Holding Inc (LBHI) and agree to a stipulated and 'Agreed Claim Amount' of US$106m. European asset-backed analysts at RBS note that the move is significant because it is .......

    News Round-up 24 January 2012

  • Restructuring firm renamed

    Guardian Solutions has changed its name to Alliance Commercial Group. The firm will continue to specialise in CMBS restructuring and resolution advisory services.

    Alliance has also established a new division offering access to private and institutional capital for clients requiring financing alternatives. It believes these options can benefit clients facing a near term or past due maturity date or those .......

    Job Swaps 24 January 2012

  • Continued Euro ABS market contraction expected

    The European securitisation market has begun 2012 on a positive footing: buoyed by a rally in European risk assets that was prompted by the ECB's LTRO programme, both ABS and RMBS have been better bid on the secondary market since the start of the year. At the same time, new deals from the Arran Cards programme and the Holmes Master .......

    News 24 January 2012

  • Fair value in the balance?

    The wrangling over the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa loan, securitised in CSMC 2007-TFLA, continues. CMBS investors are concerned that the case could set a negative precedent that may result in further artificially low valuations benefitting junior debt holders at the expense of those more senior in the capital structure.

    "While the outcome remains unclear, following the GGP .......

    News 24 January 2012

  • You say voluntary, I say mandatory...

    Anu Munshi, partner at B&B Structured Finance, explo...

    An old school friend with a great business idea comes to you and three other similarly well-off school friends and asks if you'd lend him money for his business. He needs US$40,000 and expects he can pay it back in one year with 10% interest. The four of you agree to lend him the money, each one giving US$10,000.

    In .......

    Talking Point 24 January 2012

  • Granite re-rated

    S&P has taken various rating actions on all classes of notes in the Granite UK RMBS master trust. The move follows the agency's counterparty analysis, as well as credit and cashflow analysis of the most recent transaction information that it has received.

    The master trust consists of five 'capitalist' issuers (Granite Mortgages 03-2, 03-3, 04-1, 04-2 and 04-3) and a .......

    News Round-up 24 January 2012
×