Complete news archive

  • UK borrower scenario analysis completed

    The credit performance of UK mortgage borrowers could deteriorate in a wide range of economic scenarios, according to a recent S&P scenario analysis report. Such scenarios include not only a renewed recession, but also a stronger recovery accompanied by rising interest rates.

    UK mortgage arrears and repossession rates have declined modestly since mid-2009, but some market participants have questioned whether .......

    News Round-up 22 November 2011

  • Lower growth projections weigh on WBS

    S&P reports that the UK corporate securitisations it rates have generally performed in line with expectations, as reflected in their business risk profiles and the agency's stresses. However, the pub sector has felt the strain of the economic downturn more than other sectors, it says.

    S&P notes that trading conditions for the pub sector remain difficult. Operating performance among tenanted .......

    News Round-up 22 November 2011

  • Ambac extends reorg voting deadline

    Ambac Financial has extended the voting deadline for its Second Amended Plan of Reorganisation until 4 January 2012. The monoline says this is in order to provide holders of claims against it with additional time to review the terms of any proposed settlement with the US Treasury - Internal Revenue Service. In addition, the Plan objection deadline has been extended .......

    News Round-up 22 November 2011

  • Aussie covered bond, RMBS issuers to diverge

    Moody's says that higher-rated (Aa range) banks in Australia will likely prefer issuing covered bonds rather than RMBS, while most lower-rated banks (below Aa range) will continue issuing RMBS.

    The agency explains that the discussion paper on Basel 3 liquidity reforms released on 16 November by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) gives impetus for banks to buy covered bonds .......

    News Round-up 22 November 2011

  • Rare tender offer announced

    In a move rarely seen in the CMBS market, HSBC has commenced a tender offer for all outstanding NEMUS 2006-1 class A to E bonds at a fixed price for each. Noteholders are required to tender by 2 December.

    Class A notes are being tendered at 96, class Bs at 94, class Cs at 90, class Ds at 84 and .......

    News Round-up 22 November 2011

  • BOI tender offers announced

    The Bank of Ireland has announced tender offers for up to €1bn-equivalent, or 30% of the total outstanding amount, of Kildare Securities and Brunel Residential Mortgage Securitisation No.1. The move is aimed at providing liquidity to investors following the bank's decision not to call either deal on its step-up dates in March and April 2012.

    The pricing for each note .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • Derivative obligations criteria revisited

    S&P is requesting comments on its proposed expansion to its methodology and assumptions for assessing derivative obligations and specific amendments to other aspects of the criteria for counterparty and supporting party risk.

    For derivative obligations, the proposed criteria consider different combinations of minimum counterparty ratings and collateral amounts so that the higher the minimum counterparty rating, the lower the collateral .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • Charge-offs hit post-crisis low

    US credit card charge-offs fell by 6bp in October to 5.21%, which is the lowest level for charge-offs since 2007, according to the latest Moody's Credit Card Indices results. The agency expects charge-offs to continue to decline well into 2012, pushing the rate to below 4% by the end of that year.

    "Following the sizable 75bp decline in the charge-off .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • EMEA special servicing to remain elevated

    As the wave of October loan maturities passed, the number of European CMBS loans in special servicing has remained relatively stable, according to Moody's. However, the agency suggests that this is due to recent loan workouts and is only temporary.

    Moody's latest monthly newsletter on EMEA CMBS reports that there were a total of 106 loans in special servicing as .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • SCI Start the Week - 21 November

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

    Pipeline
    The pipeline comprised CLO and auto ABS transactions at the end of last week. The CLOs are: US$290m AMMC CLO IX; US$271.8m Dryden XXII Senior Loan Fund; and US$419m Liberty Island Funding 2011-1. The auto ABS deals are €995.3m Cars Alliance Auto Loans Germany 2011-1 and €573m SC Germany Auto 2011-2.

    Pricings
    A variety of asset classes were represented in last week's pricings. .......

    News 21 November 2011

  • MBS funds merged

    The Helios Strategic Mortgage Income Fund (HSM) has been merged into the Helios Total Return Fund (HTR), with the aim of providing enhanced investment flexibility for HSM shareholders. The funds' manager, Brookfield Investment Management, says that the investment guidelines for HTR - particularly its minimum ratings requirements for investments and ability to use a broader array of investment instruments - .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • REO business acquired

    Clayton Holdings has agreed to purchase Green River Capital. Green River, which provides REO, short sale and broker price opinion (BPO) services, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Clayton, operating as a standalone business under its current brand and led by its current management team.

    Christopher West, Green River founder and ceo, and Paul Bossidy, Clayton ceo, will become .......

    Job Swaps 21 November 2011

  • Opco-propco conundrum considered

    The majority of legacy opco-propco real estate structures are unlikely to secure refinancing in their current format from either banks or capital markets, according to Bishopsfield Capital Partners.

    Whole business securitisations (WBS) and credit tenant leases (CTL) present alternative refinancing options, the firm says, particularly for opco-propcos with specialised and illiquid property assets. Vehicles containing high quality and more liquid .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • New SF recovery metric in use

    Fitch has begun using a recovery estimate (RE) metric for distressed structured finance securities. The new metric is complementary to the agency's long-term ratings and replaces its recovery ratings (RR) for the sector.

    RE is a forward-looking recovery estimate based on Fitch's expectations for principal repayments, which will be maintained and updated as the credit ratings of the associated securities .......

    News Round-up 21 November 2011

  • New asset management business formed

    Aladdin Capital Holdings is selling part of its asset management business to Mitsubishi Corporation (MC). The businesses and assets being sold will form the core businesses of a new company, MC Asset Management Holdings (MCAMH).

    The new company will be jointly owned by MC and Aminkhan Aladin, Aladdin founding chairman and ceo. MC will own 80%, with Aladin holding the .......

    Job Swaps 21 November 2011

  • CLO management team acquired

    The Carlyle Group has purchased Churchill Financial from Olympus Partners. A team of 13 investment professionals, led by Ken Kencel, has joined Carlyle's global market strategies business as part of the transaction.

    Kencel becomes md at Carlyle and now reports to Mitch Petrick, md and head of Carlyle's global market strategies business. Kencel's Churchill team will continue to manage existing .......

    Job Swaps 21 November 2011

  • Still slow for Euro CLOs

    The European secondary CLO market has been quiet, with a modest pick-up in BWICs not yet enough to generate much excitement. CLOs appear to have been over-sold and prices are expected to rise over time.

    "We saw a small number of BWICs this week, including one fairly chunky first-pay clip of GSC paper that did not trade," says one trader. .......

    Market Reports 18 November 2011

  • CCP access implications weighed

    The Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) has released a report on the macro-financial implications of alternative CCP access arrangements. It was prepared by a study group chaired by Timothy Lane of the Bank of Canada.

    The report notes that several jurisdictions are exploring the establishment of domestic central counterparties for the OTC markets and the possible benefits of .......

    News Round-up 18 November 2011

  • Panrico auction scheduled

    The auction to settle the credit derivative trades for Panrico S.L. Unipersonal LCDS is to be held on 23 November.

    .......

    News Round-up 18 November 2011

  • Aussie RMBS resilience highlighted

    Triple-A rated classes of prime Australian RMBS are mostly resilient to moderate hypothetical downgrades of lenders' mortgage insurers, but ratings on most double-A minus classes of notes are more vulnerable, according to S&P.

    Australian prime RMBS have historically relied on lenders' mortgage insurance (LMI) as the main form of credit support. Deterioration in the financial strength of LMI providers or .......

    News Round-up 18 November 2011

  • Italian ratings ceiling confirmed

    Fitch reports that if the Italian government was downgraded below single-A minus, Italian structured finance transactions would not be able to achieve or maintain triple-A ratings. The agency reiterates that it applies a cap of at most six notches to the uplift that a securitisation rating in a eurozone country can achieve above the relevant country's local currency IDR.

    Fitch's .......

    News Round-up 18 November 2011
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