Complete news archive

  • HAMP recidivism exceeds expectations

    The US Treasury Department has issued its first report on recidivism rates for loans that have been permanently modified. MBS analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch indicate that the rate so far has been far better than expected (see also separate News Analysis).

    The recidivism rate for loans permanently modified in Q309 was only 7.7% for 60-plus days delinquent .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Wrapped CDOs fill auction pipeline

    A further two ABS CDOs previously insured by Ambac - Diversey Harbor and Lancer Funding - are to be publicly auctioned, following the liquidation of Ridgeway Court (SCI passim) last week. Indeed, structured credit strategists at Citi believe that more such liquidations will take place over the next couple of months, releasing significant amounts of CRE CDO, Trups CDO and .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Pricing and risk analysis tool enhanced

    Quantifi has released the latest version of its pricing and risk analysis software, version 9.4. The new features in the latest release include expanded asset coverage for CLOs and innovations that support recent changes to the OTC markets, including new Asian standardised CDS contracts.

    Quantifi ceo Rohan Douglas says: "With the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill in the US and .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Fitch comments on unsolicited ratings issue

    Fitch has commented on the recent regulatory initiatives in the US and Europe that make it increasingly possible for rating agencies to assign credit ratings, without the cooperation of the relevant issuer or arranger. Historically, the agency has been typically constrained to issuing sector or geographic level commentary on transactions or structures which have a significantly different credit opinion to .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Equipment finance activity up on month

    The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association reports new business volume for the month of June rose by 25% to US$5.5bn from US$4.4bn. Its Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25) also increased 6% versus the same period in 2009.

    The Association says after 20 consecutive months of declines business volume has shown positive year-over-year growth each month during Q2.

    Receivables over .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Client OTC clearing service launched

    Goldman Sachs has launched a derivatives clearing services (DCS) business, providing clients with an OTC clearing service for interest rates, credit, foreign exchange, equities and commodities. DCS is an agency business designed to streamline clients' derivatives clearing experience across products, asset classes and regions. The business is built upon the firm's prime brokerage and futures clearing platforms to provide an .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Risk manager joins mortgage servicer

    PHH Corporation has appointed Smriti Laxman Popenoe as evp and chief risk officer. Popenoe will be responsible for the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide risk framework and will work with the company's business units to identify, effectively manage and mitigate credit, market and operational risks. Joining the firm in September, she will report to Jerry Selitto, president and ceo.

    Job Swaps 28 July 2010

  • SaaS version of risk surveillance platform offered

    Principia Partners has launched a software-as-a-service (SaaS) version of Principia SFP. The valuation, investment analysis and risk surveillance platform is now accessible as an integrated web-based service to manage vanilla and structured derivatives, as well fixed income and structured credit investments.

    Swaps Financial Group was an early adopter of the solution. Peter Shapiro, md of the firm, says: "Principia allows .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • CMBS delinquent unpaid balance continues to rise

    The delinquent unpaid balance for US CMBS increased by US$3.11bn in June 2010, up to US$60.45bn from US$57.34bn a month prior, according to Realpoint's latest Monthly Delinquency Report.

    Four of the five delinquency categories increased, while the 60-day category reflected a US$2.06m decrease from the prior month, offset by further credit deterioration in all other categories. This included a US$3.2m .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • CPR spike points to rising Irish loan mods

    Q210 prepayment rates in the Kildare 2007-1 RMBS shot up to 13.87%, a significant increase from 3.43% in the previous quarter, caused by the servicer repurchasing a large number of interest-only loans from the pool. The move follows the buyout of 421 loans from the Fastnet 2 pool as the legal maturity of the mortgages exceeded the date specified in .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Tale of two carehome CMBS

    The restructuring of two Titan CMBS deals illustrate the potential outcome disparities for two seemingly similar transactions. While the standstill period on TITN 07-1 (NHP) was further extended to September (by which time the loan will have remained in suspension for nearly two years), Four Seasons opted instead to better its incentive offering on TITN 06-4 FS.

    If Four Seasons' proposal is .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Timeshare ABS completed

    Wyndham Worldwide Corporation has completed its second term securitisation this year - the US$350m Sierra Timeshare 2010-2 Receivables Funding. The 144A transaction comprises US$286m single-A rated and US$64m triple-B rated vacation ownership loan-backed notes, with coupons of 3.84% and 5.31% respectively. The advance rate for this deal was 83.25%.

    Tom Conforti, Wyndham evp and cfo, says: "This transaction reflects the .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Improvement expected across RMBS

    The most recent Fitch Ratings/Fixed Income Forum Survey of Senior Investors, conducted in June, finds some surprising resiliency in investor sentiment on growth prospects and the pace of the credit recovery in the US.

    In the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, most investors surveyed now predict weak or very weak growth for Europe over the next year. .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Details emerge on Ford ABS deal

    Ford Motor Credit's US$1.082bn prime auto ABS transaction, which was delayed due to the impasse over credit ratings on ABS sales documentation, is marketing. The SEC issued a no-action letter that offered a six-month reprieve for ABS issuers on ratings last week (SCI passim).

    The deal - Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust 2010-B - should be well-received since there is .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Electricity tariff bonds prepped

    The Spanish government has confirmed that it plans to issue electricity tariff bonds as soon as all of the technical preconditions are met in September. No specific target size was given, but the government says that the securitisation tranches will be issued gradually so that the market can absorb them.

    The bonds will be issued through a Titulizacion de Activos .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • CRE Finance Council cautious on Dodd-Frank

    As President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law on 21 July, the CRE Finance Council noted that there remains much uncertainty and concern over the impact of the new mandates on credit availability.

    "The CRE Finance Council recognises the importance of many facets of the recent reform measures, but it's critical that .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • ABX CDR decrease reverses

    The latest ABX remittance data indicates that CDR levels have increased slightly on the month, after falling for a year. ABS analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch note that average values for each index were flat up to 1.4 points.

    The trend for about a year has been falling CDR levels, which began levelling off a couple of months .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • CDS data availability expanded

    The DTCC has expanded its public CDS data, providing more detailed market segmentation information on the largest corporate and sovereign CDS. This data will enable the public to assess key characteristics of these CDS contracts more efficiently, the DTCC says.

    The new information will cover the type of market, sector and ISDA Determinations Committee region for each single name reference .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Succession events mulled

    Two succession event determinations are being mulled by ISDA's Determinations Committees.

    The Americas Determinations Committee is debating whether a succession event has occurred with respect to BJ Services Company. On 28 April Baker Hughes Incorporated, BSA Acquisition and BJ Services Company merged. BJ Services Company is the surviving entity of the merger.

    Separately, UBS has asked ISDA's EMEA Determinations Committee .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Agreement reached on Basel reforms

    The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision has met to review the Basel Committee's capital and liquidity reform package (see last issue). The Group says it reached a broad agreement on the overall design of the capital and liquidity reform package. It will finalise the regulatory buffers before the end of this year and has agreed to .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010

  • Issuers given six-month Reg AB reprieve

    The SEC Division of Corporation Finance on 22 July issued a no-action letter that provided some relief to ABS issuers, following the backlash created by the repeal of Rule 436(g) of the Securities Act the day before (see also separate News Analysis). The Rule exempted NRSROs from expert liability and its repeal - under the Dodd-Frank Act - sparked concern about the impact of providing written .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2010
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