Asset Securitization Report articles from August 2003

Asset Securitization Report archives from August 2003

Whispers.
August 4, 2003... Dean Christiansen resigned as president of SPE administrator Lord Securities Corp. last week. He had been with the firm since 2000. Peter Sorensen, Lord's principal owner, will reassume the role of president, with senior vice president and CFO...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 4, 2003... In last week's ABS Market roundup, the price guidance for the single-A rated B class of the Susquehanna auto-lease ABS was incorrectly reported as being in the 100 basis point area over one-month Libor. Guidance was actually set in the mid-100...

Mortgages have their worst month in over 10-Years.
August 4, 2003... Mortgages took a good old fashioned, bat-to-the-kneecap beating last week, making this the worst month for the sector in over ten years, bank researchers said. While investors were selling to ward off duration - or, at the very least, stayed on...

FASB receives a storm of comments.
August 4, 2003... A handful of comment letters surfaced last week addressing the Financial Accounting Standard Board's controversial proposed amendment to FAS 140. The Exposure Draft has drawn heated responses from the securitization industry. The industry warns...

GE Capital plans to enter CCABS...Sources see de-linked.
August 4, 2003... After securitizing both dealer floorplan and business loan collateral this year, GE Capital is prepping an entrance into the credit card sector of the ABS market. While still in the preliminary stages, GE Capital unit Monogram Credit Card Bank...

Is it time to re-look at the fundamentals of SPEs?
August 4, 2003... In the wake of Enron and the investigations and penalties that followed, two terms the most buzz: complex structured finance transactions and special purpose entities (SPEs). "Complex structured finance" is a relative term. Complexity is (a) in...

Meager week in primary ABS.
August 4, 2003... New-issue supply totaled just $4.4 billion as early-week Treasury declines stole the focus, delaying transactions in the market. A pair of de-linked credit card offerings came and went quickly, but the largest offering last week was brought by...

Expect widening for fixed triple-A ABS.
August 4, 2003... The ABS/CMBS secondary markets moved hot and heavy last week, according to traders, while mortgages suffered. Amid semi-decent economic news, one trader called the action a "reverse flight to quality" trend, as structured finance triple-As,...

New Century sees growth ops in rate backup.
August 4, 2003... It's better to be a subprime lender than a prime one these days, according to the chairman and chief executive of New Century Financial Corp. "In the conforming world, most people have refinanced multiple times over the last few years, and...

Second pharmaceutical royalty ABS quietly prices: Revolving trust mitigates single patent risk.
August 4, 2003... After months of marketing, the $225 million pharmaceutical patent royalty securitization from Royalty Pharma Finance Trust, just the second ever such transaction, closed last week after having been placed into an undisclosed conduit. Structured...

Last week's balance-sheet builders.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, American Express indicated last week that it would take a $150 million ($230 million pre-tax) charge associated with the consolidation of roughly $2.0 billion in assets, tied mostly to...

Stern moves to Stroock for multidisciplinary approach.
August 4, 2003... Securitization has been a boon to banks looking to manage their loan exposures and free up capital, and Jeffrey Stern has played a significant role in the development of that market over the last 10 years. One of Stern's specialties, the...

Net lease market slowly awakens from FASB-induced sleep.
August 4, 2003... At first mention, the commercial real estate investment scene - conjuring images of Donald Trump flanked by a pack of murmuring lawyers - doesn't necessarily mesh well with the comparatively conservative, buy-and-hold world of private...

CMBS interest shortfalls irk Moody's.
August 4, 2003... With deals involving the placement of terrorism insurance facing more and more interest shortfalls and those that have accumulated advances for properties suffering from plunging real estate values, Moody's Investors Service released a report...

Brazil marathon enters fourth week, MBIA a proud sponsor.
August 4, 2003... The Brazilian rush to the dollar market shows no sign of abating. The future-flows class continues to drive the stampede and MBIA remains the go-to guarantor. Propelled largely by this third-quarter bonanza, future flows out of Latin America...

Mexico's Federal District, Ecocys waiting on bureaucrats.
August 4, 2003... While the cross-border market has shifted into overdrive, Mexico has slowed down. Partly to blame are the summer doldrums and the fact that some of the deals in the pipeline are backed by new assets, which take longer to structure. But for two...

Indian prospects? Some hurdles still remain.
August 4, 2003... The Indian structured finance market and asset-backed in particular is poised for rapid growth in the next two to three years, according to a report this year by Moody's Investors Service Both Moody's and its Indian affiliate, rating agency...

Euro market lets off some steam.
August 4, 2003... The European pipeline continued to look relatively busy last week, though there was a notable pause from the gigantic billion-dollar deals seen over the past weeks. This, however, has made some room for smaller scaled issuers to head into the...

Less than promising volumes in CMBS start to experience a pickup.
August 4, 2003... The European CMBS sector has seen less growth than anticipated so far this year, but that doesn't mean there's been a lack of action. Deals like the British Broadcasting House (BBC) transaction may well signal a real pickup for the second half...

Euroland increasingly turning to ABS for financing solutions.
August 4, 2003... According to senior analysts at Morgan Stanley, Euroland should see economic growth pick up during the second quarter of 2003. In some cases, this recovery has already begun. Securitization is likely to continue to play an important role as...

Whispers.
August 11, 2003... The American Securitization Forum, in conjunction with Strategic Research Institute, announced that the first-ever ASF Winter Conference is in a familiar place - The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Ariz. The gathering will be held...

PDVSA lives, but prognosis shaky.
August 11, 2003... Judging by the typical indicators, mammoth oil company Petroleos de Venezuela quickly shook off a massive strike that ran from November through January. Production bounced back, collections to the structured finance vehicle have correspondingly...

Pick up in auto, car supply.
August 11, 2003... While the European non-CDO market appears to slowing in August, the U.S. ABS primary market is seeing plenty of activity, pricing $11.7 billion in new-issue supply. For once this year, the high-quality auto and credit card names left little...

DVI stumbles again.
August 11, 2003... Spreads for DVI medical equipment ABS once again widened last week after the company missed a $7.7 million coupon payment for its only outstanding unsecured bond obligation. Described as having "one foot in the grave and the other on a banana...

An old new kid on the block, FGIC is...(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Though more or less anticipated for the past several years, it looks like Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. is finally shedding GE Capital Corp. as its controlling parent. The official closing is not expected until fourth quarter, though...

Phantom FSP added to FASB's agenda.
August 11, 2003... At this Wednesday's meeting, the Financial Accounting Standards Board will discuss its phantom Staff Position - missing from the FIN 46-related FSPs finalized in late July. The missing FSP - call it No. 6, though they weren't numbered -...

First-time equipment issuer via WestLB.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... WestLB has been busy lately. In addition to its recent subprime auto transaction for SeaWest Financial Corp., WestLB quietly brought a first-timer to market in late July - a small-ticket equipment leasing company. Though Financial Pacific...

New name Homestar plans Alt-A MBS issuance program.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Homestar Mortgage of Paramus N.J. is planning its first term securitization, tentatively scheduled for early in the fourth quarter, a company official confirmed. The inaugural offering, backed by Alt-A collateral, will be roughly $200 million...

ABFI postpones 10-Q.
August 11, 2003... Subprime home-equity lender American Business Financial Services last week announced that it would postpone its third quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission until the end of the month. A recent 8-K from the company states...

Katonah's DeLucca explains CDO success.
August 11, 2003... A fter cutting her teeth as a trader and analyst with Bernstein Macaulay's high yield bond and MBS desks in the 1980's Katonah Managing Principal and Portfolio Manager Joyce DeLucca, teamed up with Jim Ferguson and Andrew Godron to establish...

Life after the peak: Is the market still at risk?
August 11, 2003... Though the July prepayment report released last week showed never-before-seen speeds in even the lowest MBS coupons, the interest rate environment has changed substantially since then, and prepayment activity should follow suit, analysts said....

Moody's releases overview of monitoring process.
August 11, 2003... A new report from Moody's Investors Service details its streamlined process for monitoring RMBS securitizations. The rating agency screens its more than 3,000 outstanding RMBS deals, consisting of almost 5,000 pools and about 20,000...

August begins in a more positive mood for mortgages.
August 11, 2003... Mortgages began recovering in August following one of the worst months on record. Market stability and successful five- and 10-year Treasury auctions improved the market's tone. In addition, mortgage banker selling was limited to about $1...

Rabobank nudges along receivables funds in Brazil.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Rabobank is keeping busy in Brazil's domestic securitization market. Apparently, the Dutch bank is crafting a receivables investment fund (FIDC) for Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao, which owns supermarket chain Pao de Acuzar. The...

Veracruz eyes public works slated for 2004: State to tap payroll taxes in Ps450 million securitization.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... The Mexican state of Veracruz is getting a head-start on 2004. Looking to finance some of next year's capital projects before the current governor leaves office, the issuer is securitizing payroll taxes in a Ps450 million (US$42 million) deal....

Up or down? RMBS still a victim of discrepancy.
August 11, 2003... Concerns about the fluctuating housing market that plagued the first half of this year are doing little to squelch RMBS appetite. According to market reports, RMBS remains the sector of choice as investors continue to seek it out as a safe...

CDOs keep the summer European market hot, hot, hot.
August 11, 2003... Just as the Euro market seemed ready for a slowdown, CDO flow is nearly matching London's heat wave, with temperatures in the city soaring above Barbados' high. The majority of new CDOs are backed by ABS and leveraged loans, primarily...

Whispers.
August 18, 2003... As per our summer publishing break, the next issue of ASR will be Sept. 8. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to file a series of criminal complaints today against National Century Financial Enterprises, according to...

Tight price for power deal amid blackout.
August 18, 2003... A $10 billion week of U.S new issue ABS supply was cut short last Thursday, as the eastern seaboard was rendered lifeless by a blackout. Many areas in New York were still without electricity as of Friday afternoon's close. The deals that did...

Manager asks FASB to reconsider.
August 18, 2003... While the amendment to FAS 140 has stolen the limelight lately, the discussion of collateral manager fees, and how they are treated under FIN 46, made a brief resurgence in accounting talk last week. On Tuesday, John Hancock Financial Services...

Consumer assets warm up the Argentine winter.
August 18, 2003... As issuance in the Northern Hemisphere drifts into the seasonal slumber of August, activity on the wintry side of the globe is, if anything, picking up. Remote from the summer slowdown in New York and London, Argentine issuers are out peddling...

Potential deferral of FIN 46 for collateral manager fees?
August 18, 2003... Meeting summed by Marty Rosenblatt, Deloitte & Touche At its meeting last Wednesday, the Financial Accounting Standards Board considered several potential modifications, clarifications and deferrals of FIN 46. Only one Board member - Leslie...

Circuit City to auction FNANB.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... The consolidation trend in credit card issuers continues. Citing decreased profitability and a desire to focus on its core retailing business, Circuit City is shopping $1.5 billion of its direct-mail originated bankcard accounts. The retail...

UCC employs regional origination.
August 18, 2003... UCC Capital Corp. expects to wrap up its first deal of the year this week, with funding scheduled for Tuesday. If all goes as planned, the firm will announce details within the next few days, although these transactions - private and largely...

DVI spirals into Chapter 11.
August 18, 2003... As expected, specialty medical equipment finance company DVI Inc. announced it intended to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week. DVI also placed its CFO Steven Garfinkel on administrative leave. Anthony Turek and John Boyle will...

With New Century, BOCM loan level data set to go live.
August 18, 2003... With the completion of the most recent prepayment study, Banc One Capital Markets is ready to go live with its loan-level performance database - becoming the first sell-side shop to offer such a product. After two and a half years of building...

U.S. CDO issuance off 20% from pace of last year.
August 18, 2003... If things feel a little slower than last year in terms of U.S. market CDO pricings, that's because they are. While the European market continues to churn out deals, the current status of the U.S. market is, in a word, sluggish. U.S. market...

It's call risk, not extension risk that's hurting MBS.
August 18, 2003... Last week the buzzwords changed in the mortgage market as duration hedging picked up. Lehman Brothers discussed this issue in a report released on Monday. "For the most part, mortgage investors seem to be still focused on extension fears...

Large banks have lessened their MBS exposure.
August 18, 2003... Since the close of second quarter this year, data shows that large banks have reduced their holdings of securities by $66.7 billion and MBS by $27.5 billion late last month, said a recent report by Merrill Lynch. Passthrough holdings, in...

After Bradesco and CSN, Brazil cross-border takes breather.
August 18, 2003... The Brazilian onslaught is over. While the country will no doubt produce more cross-border transactions this year, no one expects a repeat of the scale and frequency experienced over the last two months. "There's room to do more, but I don't...

KfW: Coming soon to a town near you.
August 18, 2003... They promised the expansion would happen, and they weren't lying. After delivering its platform capabilities to Austria, KfW, the German-based government-sponsored bank, has moved into U.K. territory, vowing to conquer new countries going...

There's still room for sterling.
August 18, 2003... The securitization market is still making the case for sterling despite the strengthening euro fundamentals that have increasingly led corporate borrowers to Euroland. But despite a decline in sterling- based corporate borrowing, sterling-...

Not a dull moment, and more action slated in European ABS.
August 18, 2003... The European securitization market is in for a busy last four months of the year, said market sources, with a number of transactions across all asset classes slated for pricing before the close of the year. According to Dresdner Kleinwort...

Things can only get better...Korea looks to 2004.
August 18, 2003... Although Moody's Investor Services says in its recent performance report that delinquencies for the Moody's-rated Korean consumer finance receivables deals have come down from the highs experienced earlier in the year, the agency warns that the...

Property-related securitizations in Singapore keep going strong.
August 18, 2003... Aside from the growing CDO sector, the medium term pipeline in Singapore will continue to be largely focussed on property assets. "There are at least two to three more CMBS-type deals in the works, which we will hopefully see before the...