Complete news archive

  • Lawsuit filed over MBS fund deviation

    Klayman & Toskes (K&T) has filed a class action lawsuit against Charles Schwab on behalf of investors who purchased Schwab's Total Bond Market Fund. According to the suit, Charles Schwab caused the fund to deviate from its fundamental investment objective to track the Lehman Brothers US Aggregate Bond Index - specifically by investing a 25% of its portfolio in high .......

    Job Swaps 1 November 2010

  • German 10% risk retention approved

    Germany's lower house of parliament last week formally approved the adoption of a 10% risk retention threshold for securitisations. However, following successful lobbying, the final rule incorporates a later implementation date and has some scope for a watering-down of the law, according to European asset-backed analysts at RBS.

    The rule becomes effective at the beginning of 2015 rather than two .......

    News Round-up 1 November 2010

  • Austrian succession event mulled

    ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee is mulling whether a succession event occurred with respect to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft. The move follows the demerger on 9 October of the main part of RZB's assets and liabilities to Cembra Beteiligungs, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of RZB, was registered in the Austrian commercial register.

    On 10 October the merger of Cembra into its .......

    News Round-up 1 November 2010

  • CLO amendments to improve recoveries

    Noteholders have consented to a suite of amendments to the documentation in three Heat Mezzanine SME CLOs. Moody's expects the amendments to improve the recoveries on the underlying subordinated loans.

    Included in the amendments are proposals to: extend the legal maturities by a further four years; remove the need for trustee consent to restructure the subordinated loan agreements or commence .......

    News Round-up 1 November 2010

  • CMBS borrowers taking 'opportunistic measures'

    While most US CMBS loans transferring to special servicing are driven by borrowers looking to prevent future defaults, select recent transfers are showing different results entirely, according to Fitch.

    Most CMBS loans now in special servicing are there due to an 'imminent default'. This is an opaque, catch-all classification that provides little colour on what circumstances precipitated the transfer, the agency .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • Mandatory redemption for Dutch RMBS

    Moody's has withdrawn its rating on all notes issued by E-MAC NL 2003-II, due to the RMBS becoming subject to mandatory redemption. This was triggered by the failure to obtain rating confirmations from all rating agencies by 20 October 2010 - the put option date - as per the transaction documentation.

    The agency changed the direction of its ongoing rating .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • Further shrinkage expected in SF outstandings

    S&P estimates that the total amount of US structured finance securities outstanding has shrunk by over US$1trn since the peak of the market in 2007, as assets mature, prepay or default. However, analysts at the rating agency believe that there is room for further shrinkage in the market.

    "The ratio of outstanding SF volume to GDP remains well above where .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • Debut NCUA deal closes, second prepped

    National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is prepping its second resecuritisation - the US$2.82bn NGN 2010-R2. Its first such offering - NGN 2010-R1 - settled yesterday, 28 October.

    The US$3.28bn Senior Series I-A notes, which are backed primarily by senior floating-rate RMBS, printed at 45bp over one-month Libor, subject to a maximum note interest rate cap equal to 7% per annum. .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • RE vet joins asset management team

    Cole Real Estate Investments has appointed David Collins as vp in its asset management group. With over 30 years of industry experience in all areas of retail real estate management, Collins was most recently svp for Carlyle Development Group. He was previously also vp for Jones Lang LaSalle and evp for the Staubach Company.

    .......

    Job Swaps 29 October 2010

  • Wells admits to affidavit irregularities

    Wells Fargo has submitted supplemental affidavits for approximately 55,000 foreclosures that are pending before courts in 23 judicial foreclosure states. The firm says the move continues its ongoing efforts to monitor and assess its foreclosure affidavit procedures by providing an additional level of caution and assurance.

    Wells identified instances where a final step in its processes relating to the execution .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • Derivatives pricing software enhanced

    SciComp has enhanced its derivatives pricing software, SciFinance, to help quantitative developers shorten Monte Carlo derivatives pricing model development time. The software includes new models with faster execution speeds for specific asset classes; for example, single-tranche CDOs and commodity futures.

    "The mathematical problems of pricing derivatives are tailor-made for GPU computing, and Monte Carlo simulations enjoy some of the fastest .......

    News Round-up 29 October 2010

  • Asset finance head named

    Natixis has promoted Pierre Debray to global head of its asset and international trade finance group. Supervising the project, shipping, aviation and structured export finance activities, he will report into the bank's corporate and investment debt finance division.

    Debray joined Natixis in 2010 as deputy head of corporate and institutional business relations. Before joining the firm, he was most recently .......

    Job Swaps 29 October 2010

  • Financial liability accounting clarified

    The IASB has issued requirements on the accounting for financial liabilities, which will be added to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and completes the classification and measurement phase of the board's project to replace IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. The new requirements are aimed at addressing the problem of volatility in profit or loss arising from an issuer choosing .......

    News Round-up 28 October 2010

  • Facing foreclosuregate

    Put-backs unlikely to become a systemic issue

    During a conference hosted by Grais & Ellsworth on robosigning yesterday (27 October), speaker Laurie Goodman from Amherst Securities declared the potential scale of put-backs resulting from foreclosuregate to be as high as US$97bn. However, she warned that it will be "a loan-by-loan fight", with the figure likely to be constrained by the difficulties of getting sufficient investors to reach .......

    News Analysis 28 October 2010

  • Euro ABS regains strength

    With a strong start to the week, the European secondary ABS market has seen a high volume of activity - particularly in the MBS sector. This sector is currently proving to be a strong performer, as investor interest in senior tranches is building strength back into the capital structure.

    As reported in September (see SCI issue 205), the demand for .......

    Market Reports 28 October 2010

  • EM-focused CRA debuts SA equipment ABS

    Global Credit Ratings (GCR) has rated its first South African public equipment lease securitisation - Fintech Receivables 2 (Proprietary) Limited. The transaction was arranged by Nedbank Capital and originated by Fintech Underwriting (Pty) Ltd.

    The deal comprises ZAR582m triple-A rated class A notes, ZAR78m double-A class Bs, ZAR59m single-A class Cs and ZAR54m triple-B rated class Ds. A subordinated loan .......

    News Round-up 28 October 2010

  • Takefuji CDS settled

    The final price for the Takefuji Corporation CDS auction was determined to be 14.75, with 15 dealers submitting inside markets, physical settlement requests and limit orders.

    .......

    News Round-up 28 October 2010

  • US CLOs continue to 'run with demand'

    The US CLO market is a hive of activity this week as bid-list volumes and potential arbitrage opportunities continue to boost market interest. However, documentation neglect within new transactions could pose greater PIK risks.

    Bid-lists have continued to boost the US CLO secondary market this week, one CLO trader confirms. "The CLO market is continuing to run with demand. Bid-lists .......

    Market Reports 28 October 2010

  • Partner hired in Dubai

    Jones Day has appointed Eric Milne as partner in its Dubai Office. In this role he will focus on international banking and project and asset finance, while advising corporate/investment banks and corporate borrowers.

    Milne joins the firm from Simmons & Simmons in Dubai, where he was partner in the banking and finance practice. His industry experience includes infrastructure financings, securitisations, .......

    Job Swaps 28 October 2010

  • CMBS vet launches advisory

    Dan Smith has formed Four Point Alliance, partnering with Hart Advisors Group. The CRE advisory firm will specialise in expert witness testimony in CMBS lawsuits, loan servicing and asset management.

    Smith previously originated transactions for RBC Capital Markets, including sourcing, underwriting and closing commercial and multifamily loans for inclusion in CMBS pools. He says: "Volume in the CMBS industry has .......

    Job Swaps 28 October 2010

  • Promotions for distressed funds pair

    Siguler Guff has promoted James Gereghty to head its four distressed opportunities funds. Gereghty, who was previously responsible for the direct investment portfolio of the funds, will continue to report to the firm's founding partner and cio George Siguler.

    Meanwhile, Marianna Fassinotti has also been promoted from the firm's distressed team. Working with Gereghty, she will oversee the funds' relationships .......

    Job Swaps 28 October 2010
×