Complete news archive

  • ABS CDO liquidation due

    VCAP Securities has been retained to act as liquidation agent for Kleros Preferred Funding IX. It will sell the collateral to the highest qualified bidders in four public sales on 13 and 14 September.

    .......

    News Round-up 17 August 2011

  • Second NCRAM CLO transferred

     Ares Management is set to assume investment management duties for Clydesdale CLO 2004 from Nomura Corporate Research and Asset Management (NCRAM). The investment management agreement will be essentially unchanged, according to Moody's.

    Transaction documents will be amended, however, to change the name of the issuer to Ares XVIII CLO. The change in name results from a purchase agreement pursuant to .......

    Job Swaps 17 August 2011

  • CMBS defeasance criteria updated

    S&P has refined its methodology and assumptions for rating US CMBS transactions with defeasance collateral by removing the triple-A rating requirement.

    "For US CMBS transactions where defeased collateral substitutes all of the commercial real estate mortgage collateral (i.e. full credit substitution), the ratings on the transaction will be no higher than the credit quality of the defeased collateral," S&P explains. .......

    News Round-up 17 August 2011

  • Oil spill risk set for securitisation

    CatVest Petroleum Services, a newly-formed company focused on providing insurance-linked securities (ILS) services to the oil industry, is seeking to help oil companies replicate the securitisation vehicles more commonly used to hedge hurricane or earthquake catastrophe risk. New risk types, such as oil spill liability, could now enter the market.

    CatVest believes the oil industry has historically been underinsured, both .......

    News 16 August 2011

  • Alternative approach

    New tactics considered to revive non-agency RMBS

    Non-agency US RMBS issuance is yet to return in a meaningful way, with just one deal from Redwood Trust sold to investors so far in 2011. However, a number of initiatives are underway that could increase the viability of the asset class by year-end, including a different approach to structuring and rating potential deals.

    "There's a whole host of issues .......

    News Analysis 16 August 2011

  • Data management rethink required

    The implementation of OTC derivatives market reform will cause data levels to surge by as much as 400% above current levels, according to TABB Group. Electronic trading, clearing, reporting, risk management and other reform-mandated processes will produce and consume huge amounts of data never seen before by the swaps market.

    Readying technology platforms to meet these reforms will not be .......

    News Round-up 16 August 2011

  • Subprime CDS prices recover

    June's sub-par Maiden Lane auction results and their adverse effect on US subprime CDS prices appear to have faded from view for the time being, according to the latest index results from Fitch Solutions. US subprime CDS prices recovered most of last month's losses, increasing by 1% overall. The 2006 (6.1%) and 2007 (10%) vintages were the biggest movers, posting .......

    News Round-up 16 August 2011

  • New US RMBS loss criteria finalised

    Fitch has finalised its new criteria for estimating losses on US prime mortgage pools for RMBS transactions. The core principle of the framework is the interaction between borrower equity and market value declines in determining expected loss for each loan. In addition, the methodology accounts for both loan-level attributes and macroeconomic factors in deriving loss expectations.

    Fitch's new framework also .......

    News Round-up 16 August 2011

  • Duane Street CLO transfers confirmed

    The acquisition by Citigroup Alternative Investments - acting through its business unit Citi Capital Advisors - of Duane Street CLO I, II, III and IV from DiMaio Ahmad Capital became effective yesterday, 15 August (SCI 8 June). Each issuer has entered into amended and restated collateral management agreements on substantially the same terms as the existing collateral management agreements with .......

    Job Swaps 16 August 2011

  • Mortgage trading md added

    Knight Capital Group has appointed Darren Stumberger as md, mortgage trader. He joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for trading and risk management of reverse mortgages.

    At Knight, Stumberger will trade mortgage and structured products as part of the ABS/MBS team with a specific focus on the firm's growing reverse mortgage and HMBS business. He .......

    Job Swaps 16 August 2011

  • Operating advisor skill-sets scrutinised

    How much power CMBS operating advisors should have, as well as their source of revenue are among the issues being hotly debated ahead of the implementation of risk retention rules in the US. But the capabilities and quality of operating advisors also need to be scrutinised in a similar way to named servicers, according to Morningstar.

    Standardised processes for determining .......

    News 16 August 2011

  • Patchy progress

    Euro ABS market developing at varying speeds

    Traditionally strong sectors within European ABS continue to perform, but beyond the usual suspects the outlook for the market is not so positive. Changes in sovereign volatility, financing and the approach of regulators may be needed before other sectors can begin to rival the likes of auto ABS or UK and Dutch prime RMBS.

    The last few weeks have seen .......

    News Analysis 16 August 2011

  • Technological focus

    Avarina Miller, svp at Demica, answers SCI's questions

    Q: How and when did Demica become involved in structured finance?
    A:     We have been around since 1992 and we have been involved in structured finance since we started. What we do is provide automated solutions for accounts receivables-based trade financing, which involves setting up and running the technology.

    Before joining Demica, I was on the .......

    Provider Profile 15 August 2011

  • Positive developments

    Opportunities in Asia-Pacific outlined

    The latest SCI Special Report explores how the launch of domestic CDS markets in China and India may spark new activity in the region. It also looks at the recovery taking place in the Australian RMBS market. (The full SCI Asia-Pacific Special Report can be downloaded here.)

    Activity in the Asian CDS market remains subdued. Limited flow is .......

    News Analysis 15 August 2011

  • More pub downgrades triggered

    Fitch has updated its UK whole business securitisation rating criteria and downgraded care home deal EPIC Barchester's class A and B notes and pubco deal Mitchells & Butlers Finance's class A and AB notes. As a result of the criteria changes, all pub transactions not already on rating watch negative have also been placed on review.

    Using historical transaction performance, .......

    News 15 August 2011

  • UK north-south arrears gap widening

    An updated study of regional differences in UK mortgage arrears and borrowers' equity positions indicates that arrears continue to diverge between the north and south of the country, according to S&P. Based on 1Q11 data from a sample of 1.5 million securitised loans backing UK prime RMBS that it rates, the agency found that mortgage borrowers in the north of .......

    News Round-up 15 August 2011

  • US multiborrower CMBS criteria updated

    Fitch has released an updated criteria report for analysing new US multiborrower CMBS transactions, but the agency is keen to stress that the core of its criteria has not changed. As a result, there are no rating implications for existing or new transactions. However, the updated criteria provide increased sensitivity to highly leveraged loans.

    In particular, Fitch cites those loans .......

    News Round-up 15 August 2011

  • Irish RMBS assumptions revised

    Fitch has updated its criteria assumptions for assessing credit risk for Irish residential mortgage loan pools. The move is likely to result in negative rating actions on the junior tranches and, in some cases, the mezzanine tranches of existing RMBS transactions.

    The main changes to the criteria include increased foreclosure frequency assumptions to reflect the deterioration of the Irish economy .......

    News Round-up 15 August 2011

  • Retail credit cards maintain momentum

    US retail credit card ABS maintained its positive momentum last month, according to the latest Credit Card Index results from Fitch. All major collateral metrics posted month-over-month improvements during the June collection period. Late payments more than 60 days fell for the fifth consecutive month, while charge-offs decreased again and reached levels not seen since the end of 2008.

    "Consumers .......

    News Round-up 15 August 2011

  • Rule 17g-5 enhancements suggested

    Rule 17g-5 could be enhanced to provide structured finance investors with increased transparency regarding the rating agency selection process, according to a comment letter that Fitch is planning to submit to the US SEC. Specifically, the agency suggests that Rule 17g-5 be enhanced so that CRAs are required to list publicly on their websites all structured finance transactions for which .......

    News Round-up 12 August 2011

  • Belgian, French RMBS criteria updated

    Fitch has updated its criteria assumptions for assessing credit risk in Belgian and French residential mortgage loan pools. The updated criteria assumptions are not expected to result in rating actions on existing RMBS transactions.

    The main changes to the Belgian criteria assumptions focus on overall foreclosure frequency and base recovery assumptions, reflecting at the same time the country's general macroeconomic .......

    News Round-up 12 August 2011
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