ABS

  • Italian government-linked deals hit

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of the notes issued by six Italian ABS transactions, following the downgrade of the Region of Lazio, the Region of Abruzzo, the Region of Campania and the Autonomous Region of Sicily. It has also downgraded the ratings of four transactions that are directly linked to the Italian government: two repacks, one balance sheet CDO and .......

    News Round-up 7 October 2011

  • Law firm boosts SF team

    DLA Piper has appointed a new structured finance partner in London. Mark McGiddy joins the finance and projects group, reporting to Alex Dell.

    McGiddy moves over from Deutsche Bank, where he was a director within global markets structuring. He has previously served as a senior associate in Freshfields' structured finance team and has experience in cross-border transactions, with an emphasis .......

    Job Swaps 5 October 2011

  • RFC issued on op risk criteria

    S&P has requested comments on its proposal to refine and adapt its methodology for assessing operational risk in structured finance transactions. The updated criteria introduces an operational "risk screen", which highlights the key operational risk factors that are examined in each structured finance transaction.

    The risk screen examines potential operational risks under four categories: transaction party profiles; conflicts of interest, .......

    News Round-up 5 October 2011

  • Low duration bond fund launched

    DoubleLine Funds Trust has launched the DoubleLine Low Duration Bond Fund with two 'no load' share classes: I shares and N shares. The fund invests mainly in debt securities and aims to have a portfolio with an effective duration of three years or less.

    Eligible investments for the fund include ABS, MBS and CLOs. It will be managed by DoubleLine .......

    News Round-up 3 October 2011

  • First annual NRSRO report issued

    The US SEC has issued a report on its observations and concerns following an examination of ten credit rating agencies registered as NRSROs. Although improvements were noted, concerns about each of the NRSROs remain.

    The SEC notes apparent failures in some instances to follow rating methodologies and procedures, to make timely and accurate disclosures, to establish effective internal control structures .......

    News Round-up 3 October 2011

  • CLEF buy-back completed

    Groupe Eurotunnel has bought back €110m of Channel Link Enterprises Finance (CLEF) notes at an average discount of 11%. The repurchased bonds have the same characteristics as the group's tranche C debt and are divided 60% in sterling and 40% in euros.

    Eurotunnel has been able to take advantage of the liquidity requirements of its creditors to divest some of .......

    News Round-up 3 October 2011

  • Op risk criteria has limited impact

    Moody's introduction of operational risk criteria into its structured finance methodology has had a limited impact on the ratings of European ABS, CMBS and RMBS transactions, the agency reports. It placed on review for downgrade 42 ABS tranches, 47 CMBS tranches and 131 RMBS tranches from 133 transactions on 2 March, following the publication of its criteria (SCI 2 March).

    News Round-up 29 September 2011

  • Political risk practice enhanced

    Lockton has expanded its global trade credit and political risk practice with the addition of Nadine Moore as svp. She will be responsible for business development, client advocacy, and structured finance and credit solutions for corporate clients in several industries - including financial services and private equity.

    Moore joins Lockton after 11 years with Aon, most recently serving as md .......

    Job Swaps 29 September 2011

  • RBI issues securitisation RFC

    The Reserve Bank of India has released a draft of its Revised Guidelines on Securitisation Transactions for public comment. The revisions are mainly concerned with minimum holding period and minimum retention requirements for Indian banks. RBI is also considering laying down specific regulatory norms for transactions involving the transfer of loans through direct assignment between banks, as well as between .......

    News Round-up 28 September 2011

  • USCP dominance remains for EMEA conduits

    After rising slightly in 1Q11, EMEA ABCP market issuance dropped in the second quarter by 5.6% to US$163.7bn. This was driven mainly by the US$7.9bn decrease in USCP issuance, which resulted in the lowest levels of USCP seen in 10 years, according to Moody's.

    The ECP market also decreased by US$2.3bn. However, compared with 2Q10, the overall balance of outstanding .......

    News Round-up 28 September 2011

  • Advisory enhances Iberian coverage

    StormHarbour has hired Paulo Gray as a principal and md. He will be chiefly responsible for driving client relationships and coverage in Portugal and the broader Iberian region, across fixed income sales and trading, structuring and advisory, and capital markets. Gray was most recently chief country officer and head of markets for Portugal at Citi in Lisbon, a role he .......

    Job Swaps 28 September 2011

  • Executive committee bolstered

    Sidley Austin has added six new members to its executive committee, including two with experience in structured finance and real estate.

    Craig Griffith has been a partner in the firm's Chicago office since 1998. He represents banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in domestic and international securitisation and structured finance transactions. These transactions have included a particular focus on .......

    Job Swaps 28 September 2011

  • Student loan trusts on review

    Fitch has placed 16 US student loan ABS trusts on rating watch negative. The impacted trusts contain more than 20% tax-exempt auction rate securities (ARS) and have a pool factor greater than 10%.

    The trusts are being reviewed at this time due to the prominence of a unique multiplier function and its determination based on lowest rating assigned to the .......

    News Round-up 28 September 2011

  • ILS pro moves on

    Noah Schiltknecht has joined Russell Investments in New Zealand as a consultant. He most recently worked as a senior investment analyst, modelling acquisitions and divestments for utility firm Vector.

    Schiltknecht was previously involved in the structuring and valuation of insurance-linked products, credit and other derivatives at Swiss Re. He was also part of a project team that developed and introduced .......

    Job Swaps 28 September 2011

  • ILS fund minted

    SCOR Alternative Investments has launched an insurance-linked securities fund dubbed Atropos. Domiciled in Luxembourg, the SICAV-SIF vehicle has an annual performance objective of 700bp over Libor.

    "With this investment vehicle, SCOR Alternative Investments is offering the opportunity to access a diversified insurance risk portfolio in terms of perils, regions and instrument types, which is particularly difficult to obtain in this .......

    News Round-up 27 September 2011

  • Euro SF default rates remain low

    European structured finance securities' default rate has remained low, according to a recent S&P transition report. Only 1.2% of European structured finance securities outstanding in mid-2007 have defaulted so far.

    By contrast, the agency estimates that more than 44% have now redeemed in full. In addition, the 12-month rolling default rate fell to 0.5% at the end of 2Q11.

    The .......

    News Round-up 27 September 2011

  • WBS bonds reclassified

    Markit announced in its annual index review that it has changed the classification of a series of whole business securitisation bonds from 'Collateralised/Securitised' to 'Corporate'. The change is due to these issuers operating in highly regulated environments where their debt behaves more like corporate debt than securitised debt. The change will take effect from 31 December and affects: BAA Funding; .......

    News Round-up 27 September 2011

  • US consumer ABS to see 'exceptional stability'

    Traditional US consumer ABS ratings have demonstrated and will maintain exceptional stability, should the economy double-dip back into recession, according to Fitch.

    Analysis by Fitch shows that roughly 99% of all investment grade US credit card ABS either stayed investment grade, were upgraded or paid in full between summer 2007 and the middle of this year. In addition, some 95% .......

    News Round-up 26 September 2011

  • Card delinquencies at all-time low

    The credit card delinquency rate reached a new all-time low in August, with only 3.04% of balances 30-days or more past due. Credit card charge-offs also decreased by 7bp from July to 6.02%, according to Moody's Credit Card Index.

    The delinquency rate has been declining for 22 months and is now less than half the 6.23% seen in October 2009. .......

    News Round-up 26 September 2011

  • Conflicts of interest examined

    Fitch considers the alignment of interest between transaction parties and structured finance investors to be critical to a transaction's performance. In fact, the agency says it views this alignment as a significant part of the qualitative element of its rating criteria.

    The US SEC's proposed rule (SCI 20 September) is intended to prohibit certain material conflicts of interest between those .......

    News Round-up 23 September 2011

  • Boutique bolsters FI sales

    CastleOak Securities has added Gregory Hughes and Dana Brett-Levy to its fixed income division. The pair report to Patrick de Catalogne, senior md and head of fixed income sales & trading.

    Hughes joins the firm as director, covering a diverse account base for credit, structured credit and all fixed income products. He previously developed credit trading and sales platforms at .......

    Job Swaps 22 September 2011
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