Complete news archive

  • CMBS originator added

    Andrew Seng has been appointed md in the Atlanta office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF), where he will primarily be responsible for originating debt and structured finance transactions throughout the southern US. He has over eight years of experience in commercial real estate finance and was previously an evp with First Fidelity Companies. Prior to that, he worked as an .......

    Job Swaps 27 May 2011

  • Servicer strengthens business development

    Clayton Holdings has recruited Rick Smith as senior md in business development, focusing on the firm's Quantum residential and commercial special servicing business. In this role, Smith will be integral in identifying the needs of existing and potential customers and marketing the appropriate services to meet those needs. Based in the Quantum Servicing offices in Tampa, Florida, he will report .......

    Job Swaps 27 May 2011

  • Credit hedge finds

    Funds take advantage of evolving opportunities

    New credit hedge funds continue to enter the market. At the same time, the opportunity set in the structured credit space is evolving.

    One credit hedge fund manager suggests that a key factor in the influx of new funds is the "draconian conditions" imposed upon traders at investment banks. He points to a number of hedge funds that have essentially .......

    News Analysis 27 May 2011

  • CMBS new issue pair prints

    New issuance has been the main focus this week in US CMBS. Additionally, spreads now appear to be stabilising after the widening trend of the last few weeks.

    "The market seems to be stabilising a little now; it's been widening out consistently over the past few weeks," one CMBS trader confirms. An indication of this is the movement in the .......

    Market Reports 26 May 2011

  • Credit opportunities

    Greg Branch, cio at SCIO Capital, answers SCI's questions

    Q: How and when did SCIO Capital become involved in the structured finance market?
    A:     SCIO Capital was incorporated in London in October 2009. The name was chosen as both an acronym for Structured Credit Investment Opportunity and its meaning in Latin, "I know and understand". SCIO's objective was then to fill a gap in the European structured credit market for .......

    The Structured Credit Interview 26 May 2011

  • CRA names South Africa manager

    Moody's has appointed Jacques Els as general manager of its South Africa office in Johannesburg. Els - who succeeds Leon Claassen - will oversee the agency's operations in South Africa and will further develop its outreach and business in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Els previously worked at NM Rothschild and Sons, where he was director of debt advisory. Prior to this, he .......

    Job Swaps 26 May 2011

  • Aussie RMBS delinquencies reach record high

    Fitch reports that 30+ day delinquencies in the Australian prime RMBS sector reached a record high of 1.79% in 1Q11, up by 42bp from 4Q10. Christmas spending, the Queensland floods and the November 2010 interest rate rise all adversely impacted borrowers' serviceability, the agency says.

    Fitch believes the factors that have impacted mortgage performance in 1Q11 will be more or .......

    News Round-up 26 May 2011

  • CDS service adds Euro capability

    ReMATCH has removed US$97bn of risk in Western European sovereign CDS since launching its sovereign CDS service in November 2010, significantly reducing market risk for each of the major participating banks, it says. In addition, the firm has recently expanded its service to include European financials, following the launch of US financials in February this year.

    ReMATCH has run 35 .......

    News Round-up 26 May 2011

  • CVA survey undertaken

    Quantifi has released the preliminary findings of its counterparty credit risk survey. The firm recently surveyed a cross-section of financial firms to gain insight into the approaches and timing in implementing counterparty risk management processes.

    First, the survey revealed that all respondents have implemented or plan to implement major changes in their counterparty risk systems, with 41% of respondents planning .......

    News Round-up 26 May 2011

  • Banks fined for misrepresentation

    FINRA has fined Credit Suisse Securities US$4.5m and Merrill Lynch US$3m for misrepresenting delinquency data and inadequate supervision in connection with the issuance of RMBS.

    FINRA found that in 2006 Credit Suisse misrepresented the historical delinquency rates for 21 subprime RMBS it underwrote and sold. Although Credit Suisse knew of these inaccuracies, it did not sufficiently investigate the delinquency errors, .......

    Job Swaps 26 May 2011

  • Euro ABS firms up

    The European ABS market has picked up after a slow start to the week. Investor attention is focused on two new issues that are currently marketing.

    "Spreads were softer at the start of the week, in sympathy with what's going on with the peripherals and the broader credit markets," one ABS trader says. However, sentiment seems to be improving as .......

    Market Reports 26 May 2011

  • Due diligence functionality provided

    Principia Partners has launched the latest release of its structured finance platform, Principia SFP, providing industry standard tools that aim to help EU banks comply with investor due diligence requirements under the Capital Requirements Directive. The latest functionality enables ABS, MBS and structured credit investors to satisfy the operational credit analysis requirements of the EU-wide regulation and avoid additional capital .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Credit hedge fund partnership formed

    Investcorp and Prosiris Capital Management have formed a strategic partnership that will provide Prosiris with support and stable growth capital, while giving Investcorp access to a specialised credit-oriented strategy.

    Prosiris will become the latest investment advisor on Investcorp's single manager platform, which has a total of US$1.6bn in client and proprietary AUM. Under the partnership, Investcorp will provide Prosiris with .......

    Job Swaps 25 May 2011

  • Dealer added to CDS platform

    RBS has become the first dealer to provide streaming, executable markets to MarketAxess for CDS indices. The bank will provide markets for CDX IG and HY indices, as well as the iTraxx.

    MarketAxess will provide a broad suite of straight-through-processing functionality for CDS trades taking place on the platform, including connectivity to the available central clearing counterparties. The firm expects to .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Euro CMBS performance reaches new low

    European CMBS loan performance sank again this month, with 12 new loans becoming delinquent - a record high for monthly increases, according to S&P. The same number of loans was also transferred to special servicing - another monthly high. In addition, servicers transferred three loans out of special servicing in April - although two of these were resolved at a .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Cat bond blip

    ILS new issuance remains on track

    The Tohoku earthquake, combined with the latest update to RMS's US hurricane model has led to a slightly slower second quarter than anticipated in the ILS market. However, the sector remains on track to see healthy issuance overall in 2011.

    Pricing discovery in the secondary ILS market occurred soon after the Japanese earthquake, according to Jean-Louis Monnier, head of ILS .......

    News Analysis 25 May 2011

  • Dodd-Frank extension passes committee

    Legislation that will extend the effective implementation date for the derivatives-related section of the Dodd-Frank Act by 15 months, H.R. 1573, has been passed by the House Financial Services Committee. The legislation will provide additional time for regulators to draft rules, conduct additional cost-benefit analysis and consider the cumulative impacts of these rules on the market and how they would .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Already-stressed Euro sovereign CDS widen

    The highlight of a fairly uneventful week of CDS spread activity was some widening among already-stressed European sovereigns, according to Fitch Solutions.

    Spreads on Greece widened by 5% on 23 May alone in light of the sovereign's rating downgrade late last week. "Already pricing at distressed levels, CDS on Greece are likely to remain sensitive to news surrounding a potential .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Bid-list madness for Euro CLOs

    The European CLO market has been inundated with bid-lists this week, with mostly mezzanine paper up for grabs. At the same time, CLO equity appears to have piqued investor interest.

    "We've seen an unusual volume of bid-lists so far this week. It's gone mad," one CLO trader says. With seven lists launching yesterday alone, the volume can only indicate a .......

    Market Reports 25 May 2011

  • Draft EU derivatives regs approved

    The European Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee yesterday approved - with amendments - the European Commission's draft regulation on OTC derivatives, CCPs and trade repositories (SCI passim). The regulation will now go to the full Parliament for a vote in July.

    During the vote, MEPs rejected suggestions by some EU Member States that all derivatives should be governed by this regulation. .......

    News Round-up 25 May 2011

  • Celtic tender offer launched

    Ulster Bank Ireland has launched a tender offer for 15 classes of RMBS notes issued under the Celtic Residential Irish Mortgage Securitisation No 9, 10, 11 and 12 series. The bank says it is seeking to provide liquidity to noteholders by enabling them to exit the transactions, as well as to strengthen its financial position by purchasing some of the .......

    News Round-up 24 May 2011
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