Asset Securitization Report articles from December 2006

Asset Securitization Report archives from December 2006

Whispers.(Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe L.L.P hire Michelle Taylor)(Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw L.L.P appoints Jeffrey Chen)(American Mortgage Acceptance Co appoints Robert Levy and Matthew Stern)
December 4, 2006... Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has boosted its Asian structured finance practice with the hire of Michelle Taylor as partner in its Hong Kong office. She joins the firm from Paul Hastings where she was also a partner. Taylor has several years...

Big Four stance could turn out to be costly for industry, say observers.(registered securitizations; accounting firms)
December 4, 2006... A disagreement between the Big Four accounting firms and the ABS community could mean that issuers have even more Regulation AB-related paperwork than they expected at the end of 1Q07 - when the deadline for most revamped 10-K filings for...

Deutsche in JV to fund mortgages.
December 4, 2006... Deutsche Bank and the Hispanic National Mortgage Association launched a joint venture that will finance mortgages largely to Hispanic immigrant borrowers who, for various reasons, have limited traditional credit profiles. The joint...

Rumors fly about The Winter Group.
December 4, 2006... A number of employees, including two partners, have recently left residential mortgage financing and asset management firm The Winter Group. Sources close to the company adamantly deny the departures are related to any financial trouble...

NovaStar to enter CDO biz.(Novastar Financial Inc.)(collateralized debt obligations)
December 4, 2006... NovaStar Financial is planning to issue its first CDO next year, according to company executives. The move appears to shift the Kansas City-based subprime lender into a growing trend of subprime lenders and Wall Street investment banks seeking...

Sales of student loan ABS mark trading week.(asset backed securities)
December 4, 2006... It seemed like back to school time last week in the securitization sector, as no less than three student loan ABS issuers came to market with deals totaling about $3.5 billion. That accounted for almost one third of the total $15 billion...

The Next Generation of Dealmakers.(Mike Wade, Chris Ricciardi, John Devaney)(Cohen & Co.)(United Capital Markets)
December 4, 2006... Last week, Investment Dealers' Digest, a sister publication to ASR, published its inaugural "40 Under 40" in investment banking. This list highlighted 40 individuals from across all aspects of investment banking who, along with their...

Friedberg Milstein sees value in diversity.
December 4, 2006... With many portfolio managers primarily focused on one type of capital, CDO manager Friedberg Milstein maintains that not every debt package calls for the same type of investment. The firm maximizes this integrated capital strategy by using...

MBS week sees above average volume and better buying.(mortgage backed securities)(Statistical data)
December 4, 2006... Mortgages have done well as the market has steadily strengthened with the 10-year Treasury yield trying to move below 4.50%. Despite the levels, last week saw above average volume with better buying overall. Real money, fast money and...

OFHEO reports more slowing in home price growth in 3Q06.(Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight)
December 4, 2006... Home prices grew 0.86% for the quarter (3.45% annualized) nationally, compared to an upwardly revised 1.3% (5.1% annualized) in the second quarter, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's quarterly survey. Compared to...

Fannie Mae retained portfolio contracts, while Freddie Mac's records a modest gain.
December 4, 2006... Late Tuesday Fannie Mae released its monthly summary for October. For the third month in a row the retained portfolio declined by 7.3%, compared to 2.1% in September and 7.3% in August. Year-to-date, the retained portfolio is down 1.1% with an...

Europe's first CRE CDO finds favorable pricing.(Anthracite Europe 2006-1 commercial real estate)(Collateralized Debt Obligation)(Market overview)
December 4, 2006... BlackRock Financial Management's Anthracite Europe 2006-1, the first commercial real estate (CRE) CDO, backed by CMBS, B/C loan notes and other real estate debt priced last week. Dealers expect more CRE CDO transactions to emerge, providing...

Macquarie to price its CMBS offering.
December 4, 2006... From Down Under, price guidance has been released for the A$450 million ($352.1 million) CMBS by listed property trust Macquarie Countrywide (ASR, 11/27/06). The issuer's parent, Macquarie Bank, and National Australia Bank are joint leads...

Busy start to December as Europe head towards another record year.(Statistical data)
December 4, 2006... Nothing about the market indicates the looming holidays - not the flow, not even the pricing. By this time in previous years, dealers would have been bringing in a last minute rush of deals that would have pressured spreads. The seasonal tide...

Month to month issues from market newcomer.(Lloyds TSB captures market with new transactions)
December 4, 2006... Lloyds TSB was back in the market again last week toting a top up to its GBP7.015 billion ($13.6 billion) debut RMBS transaction issued just last month. Encouraged by the positive reception, dealers settled in for a second round of financing,...

HKMC prices RMBS deal.
December 4, 2006... Hong Kong Mortgage Corp. (HKMC), the territory's state-controlled secondary mortgage company, last week priced the latest issue from its Bauhinia RMBS program. HSBC was sole lead on the HK$2 billion ($257.2 million) issue. Backed by a pool...

Nationwide makes strides to expand its credit space.(Nationwide Building Society)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... Nationwide Building Society said last week that it's looking to expand its credit department. The U.K. building society said it would be running an ad in the Financial Times with the intent of hiring more people in its credit and treasury...

Chinese regulators give nod to NPL deals.(non-performing loan)
December 4, 2006... In a widely anticipated move, People's Bank of China (PBOC) and China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) have given the green light to two nonperforming loan securitizations for the second phase of pilot deals in the People's Republic of...

ABSNet gets new home as customer base expands.(Lewtan Technologies)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... Along with Lewtan Technologies' ABSNet operations expanding, the company last week announced the opening of a new office in London to house its entire European operation. The company said in a release that through its new office, it would be...

Gazprombank's sister deals get different report cards.(JSB Gazprombank)
December 4, 2006... Gazprombank is courting foreign investors with a cross-border RMBS, now on roadshow as the Russian bank readies another, similarly collateralized deal preplaced in the domestic market (ASR, 11/27/06). With Barclays Bank as bookrunner, the...

Yapi Kredi $750m DPR hits market, gets rated.(Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi A.S.)(Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's have released their assessments of a roughly $750 million-equivalent transaction from Turkey's Yapi ve Kredi (ASR, 11/27/06). Predictably the ratings mirror those of the monolines wrapping each...

Veracruz pulls retail buyers into $468m-equivalent deal.(Mexico)(Statistical data)
December 4, 2006... With no sign that generous volumes and compressed yields are easing up in Mexico's domestic market, institutional investors seem to have a nearly boundless appetite for structured product. And now the market's little guys are joining the feast....

Whispers.(Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher appointed Nicholas Politan as a partner)(Barclays Bank PLC appointed Bill Archer as managing director)(Deutsche Bank AG appointed Christopher Dunn as managing director )
December 11, 2006... Michael Koenitzer and Alberto Zonca, who were both longtime directors in Credit Suisse's ABCP conduit group, left the bank about three weeks ago. Market insiders say the two were laid off after the investment bank apparently decided to...

Restructured Check Point Charlie among recent ABCP moves.(Asset-Backed Commercial Paper)(Landesbank Berlin-Girozentrale' Check Point Charlie fund)
December 11, 2006... Pending implementation of Basel II in Europe and an unwavering confidence in the mortgage market marked substantial changes to two ABCP conduits in recent weeks. Landesbank Berlin has restructured Check Point Charlie, the ABCP program that...

S&P's new criteria for corporate ABS.(commercial mortgage backed securities)(asset backed securities)
December 11, 2006... Rating uninsured structured transactions backed by single corporate loans to the triple- A level has, until now, has not been possible. But Standard & Poor's has developed criteria that illustrate how issuers can employ structures that blend...

Buybacks test mortgage lenders.(Ownit Mortgage Corp. )
December 11, 2006... Ownit Mortgage Corp. suddenly shut its doors last week, surprising both the industry and its own employees - who apparently were told only the night before. The self- proclaimed top-15 subprime mortgage lender was overwhelmed with delinquencies...

GE Capital's latest midticket equipment deal works with less net.(GE Capital Services Inc.)(Morgan Stanley)(GE Equipment Midticket LLC)
December 11, 2006... Factory orders for durable goods might have dropped significantly, according to the U.S. Commerce Department figures released last week. However, the dip is apparently not enough to undermine performance on leases for transportation and...

Mixed asset representation marks healthy ABS issuance for the week.(Asset backed securities)
December 11, 2006... Last week looked in danger of being an all-HEL, all the time sort of issuance period, but a mid-ticket equipment lease, a shipping container deal and a stubbornly inverted swaps spread curve intervened to break up the monotony. In terms of...

Investors question CDO manager equity investment.(Collateralized debt obligations)
December 11, 2006... LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - Amid a rash of CDO structural innovations designed to lure equity investors, a familiar debate is again rearing its head - whether CDO managers should invest in the equity of the deals they manage. While some investors...

Wall Street looks to finance indy films.(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - While production companies are increasingly tapping Wall Street for funds to help counter the cost of making movies, one consultancy is looking to extend commercial paper and term financing for the first time to...

New managers go away, come again another day.
December 11, 2006... LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - New CLO managers continue to be a thorn in the side of more seasoned players, who equate managing a deal in the currently benign credit environment to riding a bike with training wheels that investors can't see. ...

US Express Leasing begins securitization program.(Credit Suisse Group)(Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corp.)(Wachovia Securities Inc.)
December 11, 2006... US Express Leasing, an independent equipment leasing company, recently priced its first term securitization, a $325 million deal. Market watchers say it is another sign of resurgence from a market that experienced a slowdown just five years...

Leaders take root in SIFMA.(Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association appoints Ira Hammerman, Richard Hunt and Randy Snook)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... The recently formed Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) announced that its first management team has taken root. The industry organization stems from the merger between the Bond Market Association and the Securities...

BNY, Mellon to form mega asset manager.(Mellon Bank Corp.)(The Bank of New York)
December 11, 2006... The merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Bank that was announced last week is expected to create the world's largest asset custodian and corporate trustee. The merged entity will also be a top 10 global asset manager and the 11th...

Countrywide discusses recent production and application activity.
December 11, 2006... Countrywide Securities analysts have highlighted their recent production activity and applications trends in light of the decline in interest rates and shifts in the yield curve. Not surprisingly, since about April, there's been a steady...

Active flows in mortgages as the market backs up.
December 11, 2006... Mortgages got relief last week as rates moved away from 4.40% on the 10-year Treasury as a result of a stronger than expected ISM Services Index Tuesday and a strong ADP National Employment report on Wednesday that raised concerns about last...

Softbank completes world's largest whole business ABS.(Softbank Corp. acquires Vodafone KK)
December 11, 2006... Japanese communications giant Softbank last week completed the world's largest whole business securitization (ASR, 10/02/06). The 1.45 trillion ($12.46 billion) deal refinanced short-term bridge loans used in Softbank's April acquisition of...

First German NPL may be the lone star, for now.(nonperforming loan)(Industry overview)
December 11, 2006... The recently announced Lonestar German nonperforming loan (NPL) securitization deal may bring to mind predictions made roughly two years ago about the German NPL securitization market booming. However, market sources said that the sector's...

Softer spreads for some as Euro market draws to a close.(Industry overview)
December 11, 2006... The December rush has finally started to place its traditional stamp on spreads as some deals began to see softening on trading, particularly at the triple-A level. However, when looking down the ratings tier, investors will still find a...

Eurotunnel moves ahead with debt restructuring.(Eurotunnel PLC)
December 11, 2006... Eurotunnel moved ahead with its slated restructuring plan. Last week the company's bank creditors voted to write off a significant amount of debt under the French procedure de sauvegarde (safeguard procedure). The restructuring reduces the...

Patrimonio appears to take UDI yield to new low in RMBS.(Mortgage backed securities)
December 11, 2006... Mexico's Patrimonio priced an Ambac-wrapped deal that is the tightest pricing ever achieved for a domestic structured transaction denominated in inflation-indexed units (UDIs), according to ASR data. Sized at 264 million UDIs ($92 million),...

Russia's Alfa prints DPR paper in euros and dollars.
December 11, 2006... Russia's Alfa Bank returned to the structured finance market last week, issuing a five-year legal transaction backed by diversified payment rights (DPRs), with one tranche in dollars and another in euros. A 230 million ($306 million) tranche...

Announcement.
December 18, 2006... ASR is on its annual two-week publishing hiatus, and will resume publishing on January 8th. Happy Holidays. Editorial Staff

Whispers.(resignations)
December 18, 2006... A number of managing directors have left Dresdner Kleinwort in London as part of a job-cutting program. Up to 7% of Dresdner staff could lose their jobs. Jeremy Vice, head of collateralized debt obligation structuring, and Laurent Caraffa, a...

Clarification:.
December 18, 2006... In the Dec. 11 issue of ASR, an article called "Investors question CDO manager equity investment' should have stated that, while Trust Company of the West has a general policy against investing in the equity of deals it manages, there are...

For 2007, market pros see, tapping of Asian investor capital for SLABS.(student loan asset-backed securitization )
December 18, 2006... The U.S. ABS market spent a lot of time in 2006 absorbing major shocks, whether it was sweeping reforms for disclosure under Regulation AB, or changes to the Higher Education Act. Next year, according to several market players, the asset-backed...

U.S. CDO sector's wild ride in 06.(Collateralized debt obligations)
December 18, 2006... The U.S. CDO sector, fueled by residential mortgage and leveraged loan collateral, grew by leaps and bounds in 2006 to an estimated $480 billion - posting a gain of roughly 57% over last year and establishing itself as a staple within fixed...

Calyon boosts CDO underwriting.(collateralized debt obligation)
December 18, 2006... Calyon last week announced plans to grow its global CDO staff by one-third. The news came amid a shake-up that left the investment bank without several key members of its U.S. CDO team, including cash CDO head Alexander Rekeda. ...

Commercial property ABS deal a landmark for CapitalSource.(Asset backed securities)
December 18, 2006... Back in January, CapitalSource made its REIT status official, and thus made a lot of progress toward lowering its cost of funds and separating its real estate securitization activities from the rest of its securitization program. After pricing...

Charge it! Card ABS drops eight deals onto the market.(Asset backed securities)
December 18, 2006... Tis the season to be... shopping,' and not to be outdone by mere retailers this time of year, credit card ABS issuers rolled out the merchandise for their customers. Primary issuance marched on at a steady clip last week, and as December...

NAIC proposes amendment that could restrict life settlement deals.(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
December 18, 2006... Life settlement ABS deals have been gaining traction in the securitization market in recent years, but some experts worry that recent proposals by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will restrict the flow of underlying...

Mizuho nabs Calyon CDO staffers.(Mizuho Securities USA appointed Alexander Rekeda )
December 18, 2006... Mizuho Securities USA is positioning itself to become a familiar name in U.S. CDO-ville, with former Calyon cash CDO head Alexander Rekeda leading the Japanese bank's foray into CDO issuance out of New York. Rekeda was a driving force behind...

Hedge funds, CDO managers partner in HEL tango.(Collateralized debt obligations)(Statistical data)
December 18, 2006... The subprime RMBS market in 2006 arguably boiled down to a game of tug-of-war. On one side, hedge funds were eager to capitalize on a perceived gloom-and-doom scenario fraught with a busted housing bubble and empty-pocketed subprime borrowers....

Tom Finke: Multiple funds under management.
December 18, 2006... Tom Finke is used to juggling multiple responsibilities. Not only at the office, with eight CLOs currently under management, but also at home keeping track of five kids. Though he is highly organized during the week, come Friday afternoon,...

Investor participation expected to be spotty for MBS in 2007.(Mortgage backed securities)
December 18, 2006... The MBS market has been buoyed up by low volatility and demand from banks in 2006. Coming into the new year, whether these positive factors would continue to drive performance is a big question mark. And, like everything else, there is the...

MBS overseas buyers active with the return to higher yields.(Mortgage backed securities)(Statistical data)
December 18, 2006... Performance gains in December have been mediocre, with Lehman Brothers' MBS Index up just four basis points month to date. In recent sessions, stronger than expected data (nonfarm payrolls and retail sales) have been steadily moving yields...

CMBS conduit issuance slows down.(collateralized Mortgage backed securities)(Statistical data)
December 18, 2006... CMBS conduit issuance is winding down. On Thursday, the $2.7 billion MSC 06-IQ12 priced and Friday the record sized JPMCC 06-LDP9, totaling $4.9 billion), was expected to price. The 10-year benchmark class priced at S+23.5 basis points, the...

ABS crop in Russia and Turkey looks good for 07.(asset backed securities)
December 18, 2006... For 2007, Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan will keep yielding the kind of fruit craved by players in structured finance. In Russia, in particular, sources said, expect a bumper crop. That country emerged, or rather erupted, as an epicenter of...

Domestic Brazil and Mexico to call the LatAm shots in 07.(Statistical data)
December 18, 2006... Heady growth in the domestic markets of Brazil and Mexico is forecast to spill over into next year, as many players once devoted to Latin America's cross-border market re-channel their energies into local currency deals. Some interesting...

Yapi Kredi prices biggest non-government Turkish bond.
December 18, 2006... Yapi ve Kredi ventured for the first time into the structured market, and came out with the largest non-government bond ever placed from Turkey, according to a source close to the transaction. The deal was sized at roughly $1.2 billion,...

The European ABS market closes another record year with more of the same expected in 2007.(asset backed securities)(Industry overview)
December 18, 2006... With 2006 drawing to a close and yet another record year of European securitization issuance expected, the market has definitely grown up. Analysts say that maturity can best define the European securitization market in 2006. "After...

Euro ABS market still busy pricing deals as December wraps up.(asset backed securities)(Statistical data)
December 18, 2006... As December lunges into its year-end rally, investors still have plenty of choices left that are looming in the pipeline. At the start of last week, more than 40 deals still remained to be priced. Market players say the supply could cause some...

Onwards and upwards: Asian ABS outlook 2007.(asset backed securities)
December 18, 2006... Australia's growth will continue to be dominated by residential mortgage-backed deals in 2007, with originators benefiting from significant demand from local and international investors. However, observers will keep an eye on the level of...

CDB and Macquarie Bank team up for infrastructure ABS deal.(China Development Bank)(Asset backed securities)
December 18, 2006... China Development Bank (CDB) is in talks with Australia's Macquarie Bank over a securitization of infrastructure loans, according to media reports. CDB's governor Chen Yuan was quoted as saying Macquarie was a logical choice of partner given...

Kookmin seeks debut RMBS with $1 billion transaction.(Kookmin Bank)
December 18, 2006... Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest commercial bank, has invited international arrangers to bid on a $1 billion cross-border residential mortgage-backed offering. A small number of banks - believed to include ABN Amro, Calyon, Citigroup Global...