Complete news archive

  • 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

  • ABX valuations revisited

    ABS analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have profiled ABX valuations in light of the ongoing foreclosure issues and likely liquidation delays. They note that the ABX index has displayed marked price weakness recently, with - for instance - 06-2 AAA declining almost four points from an average close of 61.3 to 57.6 on 13-14 October.

    "The move in .......

    News 27 October 2010

  • US CLO reinvestment prospects examined

    Structured credit analysts at JPMorgan have forecast US CLO reinvestment prospects for 2011 to 2014, based on a framework that incorporates prepayments, collateral sales, CLO issuance and structural deleveraging. Their analysis suggests that current outstanding US CLOs have reinvestment potential of up to US$86bn, US$68bn, US$47bn and US$23bn for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively - the equivalent of a .......

    News 27 October 2010

  • Latest Vita issued

    Swiss Re has printed the latest iterations of its Vita mortality catastrophe bonds (see SCI 13 October 2010). The two tranches issued by Vita Capital IV finally sized at a total of US$175m and were privately placed.

    The US$100m series III class E notes priced at 375bp over the interest on the deal's collateral and the US$75m series IV class .......

    News 27 October 2010

  • HY CLO retranched

    Carlyle High Yield Partners VII class A-2-A notes have been retranched and renamed Metropolis II series 2010-2. S&P has assigned a triple-A rating to the class A notes, sized at US$67.7m. The retranching also provides for US$16.97m unrated class B deferrable notes.

    .......

    News Round-up 27 October 2010

  • CDS real-time reporting standards floated

    Javelin Capital Markets has written an open letter on the ongoing US SEC and CFTC discussion about block trading and real-time swaps reporting. The electronic trading venue stresses the need to enforce Dodd-Frank's requirement for reporting interest rate swap and CDS transactions in real-time, as well as suggesting what should constitute a block trade.

    Real-time reporting is crucial, argues Javelin .......

    News 27 October 2010

  • Euro SF downgrades decline dramatically

    S&P reports that in 3Q10 the quarterly number of European structured finance downgrades fell to their lowest level since 2007, with downgrades falling by a third of the agency's total in 2Q10.

    "Our latest report highlights an improvement in the credit performance of European structured finance," says S&P analyst Arnaud Checconi. "We took 509 rating actions in Q3, comprising 352 .......

    News Round-up 27 October 2010

  • OTC derivatives best practices issued

    ISDA has published two best practices documents, 'OTC Derivatives Settlements Best Practice' and 'OTC Derivatives Interest Compensation Claims Best Practice'. The documents are the results of the collaborative efforts of firms represented on the ISDA Settlements Implementation Group, which takes direction from ISDA's operations steering committee.

    The OTC derivatives settlements document provides cross-asset class guidelines to the industry on common .......

    News Round-up 27 October 2010

  • OTC clearing service launched

    Calypso Technology has launched an OTC client clearing service for derivative clearing members (DCM). The firm will offer a solution for clearing members to clear and process OTC derivatives on behalf of their house and client accounts, across multiple clearing houses.

    The service aims to provide support for all trade lifecycle events of a centrally cleared transaction, some of which .......

    News Round-up 27 October 2010

  • Consolidating positions

    Firms forced into consolidation as tough times take toll

    Advisories and broker-dealers in the ABS space are having to adjust to the challenges of operating in a market with reduced liquidity and low trading volumes. The halcyon days of a couple of years back have passed, leaving a great many entities chasing fewer opportunities.

    One response to these more challenging conditions has been consolidation, with - for example - .......

    News Analysis 26 October 2010

  • Valuators prepare for regulatory measures ahead

    A panel discussion hosted by Interactive Data last week examined the findings of a new A-Team Group survey, 'Valuations in European Buy-Side Institutions'. The survey focused on valuation issues across the OTC derivatives market and how valuations will be impacted by upcoming regulatory and accounting changes.

    In terms of financial institutions' preparations for the regulatory changes ahead, BNY Mellon Asset .......

    Talking Point 26 October 2010

  • First thunder cat bond marketing

    Mariah Re, the first-ever catastrophe bond to solely cover severe thunderstorm risk, is being marketed by Aon Benfield on behalf of American Family Mutual Insurance. The US peril-focused single-tranche US$100m three-year deal has been given a preliminary single-B rating by S&P.

    The transaction will cover losses in the covered area (a range of specified US states) resulting from severe thunderstorms. .......

    News 26 October 2010

  • PPIP performance update released

    The US Treasury reports that PPIP managers drew down an additional US$2.4bn over the last quarter, compared to US$5.7bn in Q2. Total draws under the programme now equal US$18.6bn, representing 65.5% of the US$29.4bn in total purchasing power available to PPIFs.

    Of the US$19.4bn in market value invested, 82.4% resides in non-agency securities. Similar to last quarter, the prime and .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010

  • Law firm expands mortgage foreclosure team

    Nixon Peabody has expanded its mortgage finance and foreclosure team, offering additional resources to address clients' growing needs during the mortgage foreclosure crisis. The team advises clients on impending issues involving mortgage foreclosures and repurchase obligations as clients face bankruptcy and restructuring, litigation, government investigation and new regulatory enforcement, the firm says.

    .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • Ambac rehab plan faces attack

    The RMBS Policyholders Group has commented on the Plan of Rehabilitation for the Segregated Account of Ambac Assurance Corporation, which recently filed by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) (SCI passim).

    The plan continues a disturbing pattern, the group says, of OCI favouring Ambac and its shareholder to the detriment of policyholders. The plan requires policyholders to .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • BofA, Citi conduits on review

    Fitch has placed the F1+ ratings on six ABCP conduits sponsored by Bank of America and Citi on rating watch negative (RWN). The move follows the placement of the banks' A+/F1+ issuer default ratings on RWN.

    The ratings of the ABCP issued by the conduits are linked to the ratings of the banks, as sponsors and direct credit and liquidity .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010

  • Distressed credit vet launches own firm

    Former Siguler Guff portfolio manager Maria Boyazny has launched MB Global Partners, partnering with G2 Investment Group. The collaboration aims to capitalise on the credit dislocations and distressed opportunities created by the global financial crisis.

    Boyazny previously managed US$4.5bn across Siguler Guff's distressed opportunities funds. "This is a decade of credit, as financial institutions and governments around the world are .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • Permacap merger proposed

    The boards of Greenwich Loan Income Fund (GLIF) and Asset Management Investment Company (AMIC) are in discussions with a view to GLIF acquiring the entire issued share capital of AMIC, by way of a scheme of arrangement. The scheme would be subject to the approval of both companies' shareholders, court approval and certain other conditions. The firms are aiming to .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • Assured loses triple-A rating

    S&P has lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Assured Guaranty Corp (AGC) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp (AGM) to double-A plus from triple-A, outlook stable. At the same time, the agency affirmed its single-A plus counterparty credit rating on Assured Guaranty Ltd, with the outlook also remaining stable.

    "The downgrades reflect our view that the current state .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010

  • OTC derivatives concentration outlined

    ISDA has released statistics regarding the concentration of OTC derivatives activity among major market participants, alongside its mid-year 2010 market survey results of privately negotiated derivatives. The results were published at its 2010 regional conference in Hong Kong.

    The mid-year market survey suggests that the total notional amount outstanding of interest rate, credit and equity derivatives on 30 June 2010 .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010

  • US credit card charge-offs fall sharply

    According to Moody's latest indices for the sector, charge-offs on US credit cards fell by over a percentage point in September, ending the month at 8.9%. The steep drop from 10.03% in August confirms that the small rise in charge-offs in August only reflected seasonal factors, the agency says.

    Moody's says it expects charge-offs to move steadily lower into the .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010
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