Complete news archive

  • Downgrades likely on SME CLO criteria change

    S&P has issued a request for comment on a proposed revision to its methodology and assumptions for rating SME CLOs. The agency is proposing to adopt the global methodology for rating corporate CDOs, where appropriate, and adapting for the European SME market and the characteristics of the securitised portfolios. The aim is to enhance ratings comparability across sectors, the agency .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2012

  • Dutch RMBS performance softening

    Fitch reports that the low level of completed foreclosures in prime Dutch RMBS transactions is adding to the pressure on collateral performance. This follows the agency's review of 51 prime Dutch RMBS transactions, which resulted in 173 tranches being affirmed, two being upgraded and 22 being downgraded.

    The performance of Dutch RMBS loans has softened over recent quarters, according to .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2012

  • EFSF downgraded

    S&P has lowered the triple-A long-term issuer credit rating on the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to double-A plus and affirmed the short-term issuer credit rating at A-1+. The ratings were also removed from credit watch, where they had been placed with negative implications on 6 December 2011. The outlook is developing.

    The move follows rating actions on 16 eurozone .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2012

  • Douro tender disappoints

    Banco BPI is set to purchase only €149.3m from its recent fixed tender offer for over €2bn of Douro RMBS (SCI 11 January). With a take-up rate of less than 7%, far fewer bonds were tendered then had been expected.

    ABS analysts at Barclays Capital suggest that this is because the fixed tender offer prices were not attractive, investors were .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2012

  • Bank appoints CVA head

    Lloyds Bank has recruited Cris Kinrade as head of counterparty exposure management and solutions in London. He will report to head of trading Richard Moore, who is also joining in March.

    Kinrade has over 20 years of experience performing roles across wholesale and trading businesses. He joins from RBS where he was head of derivatives funding and he has also .......

    Job Swaps 17 January 2012

  • Dual approach

    Monoline builds 2012 pipeline

    In replacing Ambac Assurance UK as monoline guarantor on the UK PFI bond issue originally issued by Worcestershire Hospital in 1999, Assured Guaranty has taken a significant step towards re-launching its business in Europe (SCI 9 January). Having kept a fairly low profile since the financial crisis, the AA-/Aa3 rated firm confirms it is working on a pipeline of deals .......

    News Analysis 17 January 2012

  • Zenkyoren returns

    A new Japanese quake catastrophe bond has begun marketing on behalf of Japan's National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren), whose Muteki Re cat bond suffered a 100% loss after last year's Tohoku earthquake.

    The Single tranche US$150m Kibou transaction is being arranged by GC Securities on behalf of risk counterparty Hannover Re and reinsurer Zenkyoren. The series 2012-1 .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2012

  • SCI Start the Week - 16 January

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

    Pipeline
    The number of deals entering the pipeline is picking up, with five new transactions remaining at the end of last week. A €1.44bn RMBS from Crédit du Nord (FCT BS CDN PPI) led the way and was joined by a second RMBS after Santander announced Holmes Master Issuer series 2012-1. These were followed by a US$276m student loan ABS (South .......

    News 16 January 2012

  • MLANs debut

    Freddie Mac has priced a 2.06% US$3bn mortgage-linked amortising note (MLAN) security due on 15 January 2022. MLANs are senior unsecured debt obligations whose cashflows mimic the principal payments of referenced agency mortgage-related securities held in Freddie Mac's mortgage-related investments portfolio. The mortgage-related security referenced by MLANs may be a specific Freddie Mac Giant, Participation Certificate (PC), a combination of .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2012

  • Loan defaults weigh on SME ABS

    Moody's expects deterioration in the credit quality of European banks to negatively affect new and existing SME ABS transactions, leading to a rise in loan defaults in 2012. The impact will be most acute in transactions without additional structural features or more credit enhancement to compensate for the reduced credit quality of counterparties.

    "Sovereign turmoil and banking sector stresses will .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2012

  • CRE CDO late-pays dip

    Late-pays for US CRE CDOs finished the year at a lower level than in 2010, according to the latest Fitch index results. CRE CDO delinquencies for December came in at 12.5%, down from 13.6% at December 2010 and a 14.8% peak in April 2011.

    The senior-most tranches of 68% of Fitch-rated CRE CDOs have either a stable or positive outlook. .......

    News Round-up 13 January 2012

  • Special servicer fees scrutinised

    CMBS investors are becoming increasingly concerned about post-maturity loan pay-offs that generate workout fees despite only spending a few months with the special servicer, according to US CRE Debt analysts at Deutsche Bank. They cite the pay-off of the securitised loan on the 50 South Tenth Street building in Minneapolis as a notable recent example of the issue.

    "50 South .......

    News 13 January 2012

  • Vitality III marketing

    Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas are marketing the third Vitality Re medical benefit claims ILS. Vitality Re III 2012-1 is a two-tranche deal, comprising US$105m class A notes preliminarily rated triple-B plus by S&P and US$45m class B notes currently rated double-B plus.

    As with the previous Vitality Re transaction, S&P says the preliminary ratings are based on a model .......

    News Round-up 13 January 2012

  • Thames River restructures credit team

    Thames River has made changes in its global credit team, which is headed by Stephen Drew. Brett Golledge and Jennifer James both join in senior roles as part of the reorganisation.

    Golledge will become co-manager of the credit team's funds alongside Drew. He joins from UBS where he was head of credit trading and brings two decades of experience, including .......

    Job Swaps 13 January 2012

  • SEAT LCDS auction due

    Markit iTraxx LevX market makers have determined that a failure to pay credit event occurred in respect of SEAT Pagine Gialle, a constituent of the index and the subject of single name LCDS trades. They have voted to hold an auction in respect of SEAT, scheduled for 17 January. The move follows an auction held for CDS trades on 9 .......

    News Round-up 13 January 2012

  • Strategic defaults weigh on private-label RMBS

    The credit performance of private-label RMBS in the US continues to face many challenges in 2012, Moody's says in its annual outlook report on the sector, with strategic defaults posing a major risk. The performance of the loan pools backing outstanding RMBS has been stabilising, however, and the agency's 2012 loss expectations for US RMBS are mostly unchanged.

    "Although delays .......

    News Round-up 13 January 2012

  • Negative outlook for US ABCP

    Moody's credit outlook for US ABCP in 2012 is negative, although its outlook for the credit quality of assets funded by ABCP is neutral to improving. The volume of outstanding commercial paper will likely decline this year.

    "Our outlook for ABCP is negative primarily because of our negative outlook for the global banking sector," says Everett Rutan, a Moody's svp. .......

    News Round-up 12 January 2012

  • Euro RMBS outshines CLOs, CMBS

    Activity in the European securitisation market has been mixed so far this year. RMBS has made a promising start and one trader reports that renewed primary issuance is expected soon, but secondary trading in the CLO and CMBS markets is occurring only at low levels.

    "The RMBS market is off to a better start than we ended 2011. At the .......

    Market Reports 12 January 2012

  • Firm appoints SF partner

    Schulte Roth & Zabel has named a new structured finance partner. David Karp, based in the New York and London offices, is promoted to the role after six years with the firm.

    Karp's practice focuses on corporate restructuring, special situations and distressed investments, distressed mergers and acquisitions and the bankruptcy aspects of structured finance. He leads the distressed debt and .......

    Job Swaps 12 January 2012

  • Oak Hill promotes partners

    Oak Hill Advisors has named four new partners, who will join the six existing partners in leading the firm and directing investment in the North American and European credit markets. The new partners are Alexandra Jung, Adam Kertzner, Jeffrey Kirt and Thomas Wong.

    Jung is co-head of European investments and co-manages the firm's European distressed investment fund. She joined the .......

    Job Swaps 12 January 2012

  • LTV linked to Spanish RMBS defaults

    Moody's highlights in a new special report that Spanish mortgage loans most likely to default are those with high LTV ratios, securitised in arrears of up to 30 days, made to foreign residents or originated via a broker. LTVs are shown to be the main driver of default frequency, with a dramatic increase in default probability for mortgages with LTVs .......

    News Round-up 12 January 2012
×