Asset Securitization Report articles from December 2008

Asset Securitization Report archives from December 2008

Whispers.(Whispers)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Babson Capital Management announced a series of promotions recently. Thomas Finke, formerly president of the firm, will take the position of chairman and chief executive officer, effective Dec. 1. He will also...

New Association for European Covered Bond Dealers.(Global)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) announced the launch of its European Covered Bond Dealers Association (ECBDA). The ECBDA will represent dealers in the European covered bond markets...

Euro Credit Cards Hang in There.(Cover Story)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer "Since the beginning of 2007, we have seen a tightening of lending standards and a reduction of introductory offers to new borrowers, which has set the ground for improvement in performance and better positioned these...

TALF to the CMBS Rescue?(Column)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The CMBS market experienced what analysts called a meltdown recently, as super senior triple-A paper saw a significant fall in price. These securities were trading near $50 at the close on Nov. 20 - which was a...

ABS Market Gives Thanks for TALF; TALF and an Americredit deal grace the silent ABS market with their presence,.(ABS)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein The market was in brighter spirits before the Thanksgiving holiday, as ABS market participants quite fittingly gave thanks to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who rolled out a Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan...

Firms Pick Up Structured Finance Pros.(C)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Jakema Lewis/Investment Management Weekly The fallout in the ABS and MBS markets has triggered the development of a new trend: structured finance professionals lending their expertise to asset management shops. A notable...

Moody's Rolls Out U.S. RMBS Enhancements.(ABS)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Gsbrielle Stein Despite the lack of new deal flow, rating agencies are hard at work making improvements to their evaluation processes in hope of luring back investor confidence and restarting new issuance. Last week, Moody's...

Nov. Remits Show Deteriorating Collateral.(ABS)(Barclays Capital Inc.)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan November remittance reports showed continuing performance deterioration, which was largely expected by Street analysts, though still dramatic. For instance, the reports indicated that monthly aggregate 60+ day...

Government Agencies Unveil Facility to Aid Consumer ABS.(ABS)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced last Tuesday a program meant to inject liquidity into the beleaguered financial system. The initiative, which is called the Term Asset-Backed...

Mission Capital Sales Climb Amidst Bank Losses With whole loan sales rising, advisors like Mission Capital are optimistic about new business.(MBS)(Financial report)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein In a market where financial institutions are scrambling to shore up capital with asset sales, firms that facilitate these transactions successfully are poised to emerge from the recession with deeper pockets. ...

Granite Master Trust Breaches Trigger Northern Rock's master trust unwinds at noteholders' expense.(Global)
December 1, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer Northern Rock's Granite Master Trust breached its non-asset trigger, because the current-seller share fell below the minimum on two consecutive distribution dates. The breach is the result of a strategic decision by...

Whispers.(Whispers)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff The ax fell on Deutsche Bank staffers last week. Sources close to the bank said that the lay-offs were in the sales and trading division as well as research. These lay-offs did not come as a surprise to people...

The FHA Choice; Collapse of private-label market propels government-insured loans.(Cover story)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan A recent Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) study showed that the government-insured share of mortgage applications continues to increase compared with their conventional counterparts. According to the MBA, among...

Is This the Answer We've Been Looking For?(trends in mortgage market)(Column)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer In the time since the crisis unfolded, the U.K. government has been under criticism for not doing enough to stimulate a mortgage market revival. But it might just redeem itself. The latest version of the...

ABS Industry Groups Unite Over Joint Initiative.(ABS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein ABS market participants across the globe gathered together on Wednesday for a joint meeting of industry organizations including the American Securitization Forum (ASF), the Securities Industry and Financial Markets...

ABS Market Ready For Year-End; ABS players wait for activity to resume in the New Year as Nissan comes to market.(ABS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein The home stretch to 2009 has begun, and ABS market participants appear to have kicked up their heels in hopes that the new year will bring a rebirth in the securitization space. Last week, U.S. ABS players...

Loan Modifications Gain Ground with Various Lender Initiatives.(ABS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein With the slew of Federal initiatives aimed at restoring stability in the capital markets, attention has finally been paid to the struggling mortgage industry - which might now be gaining some traction in the loan...

Ocwen, Liquidity Strained, Seeks U.S. Charter Anew.(ABS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Kate Berry, American Banker Nearly four years after turning in its thrift charter, Ocwen Financial Corp. has reconsidered the merits of federal regulation and has applied to convert to a bank holding company and buy a tiny Texas...

Merrill Puts Life Back Into CMOs; CMOs are usually sold at a higher price than where passthroughs are bought, but that's in a functioning market.(MBS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan Merrill Lynch has designed a proposal to inject liquidity into CMOs by recreating them as passthroughs. In a normal, functioning market, CMOs are created out of passthroughs in different ways including modifying...

Mortgages Off to a Rough Start in December.(MBS Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan, Thomson Reuters Mortgages were off to a very poor start for December. This is despite the news that the Federal Reserve would be purchasing $500 billion of MBS over the next several quarters, announced just before...

Housing Pessimists Chew On Metrofinanciera; Company puts figure on money owed to the trusts.(Global Report)
December 8, 2008... Byline: Felipe Ossa Over Thanksgiving break, Mexico's Metrofinanciera dropped a huge turkey on the laps of its bond investors, roughly Ps4.19 billion ($308.3 million) worth. That's how much the company revealed it owed the financial trusts...

Whispers.(Whispers)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Head of securitization research for Europe Ganesh Rajendra is no longer at Deutsche Bank, according to people close to the situation. The bank recently cut 900 jobs both in Europe and in the U.S., including those in...

U.K. Bends on Loan Mod Front But at What Cost?(Global Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The U.K. government has finally succumbed to calls for it to step in and ease the growing repossession rates. Last week a new initiative was launched aimed at helping borrowers who are working to avoid default on...

State-Backed Dutch Mortgage Guaranty Comes Under Scrutiny; Nora Colomer.(Global Report)
December 15, 2008... Fitch Ratings said it is reviewing RMBS backed by the Dutch National Mortgage Guaranty (nationale hypotheek garantie or NHG) as part of its criteria update for residential mortgage loans with this type of guaranty. The aim of this review...

Mexican RMBS and Homebuilder ABS Fresh Palette of Players for '09.(Cover Story)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Felipe Ossa The securitization of mortgages and construction loans has slowed down to a listless sputter over the last few months in Mexico, a victim of blown-out spreads and investor aversion to debt from nonbank companies known...

Modifying the Modification Plans.(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)(Column)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Bill Berliner The continuing spike in delinquencies and foreclosures has caused the topic of loan modifications to receive renewed attention and focus. In testimony before Congress, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairwoman...

ABS Market Packs Its Bags, Hopes for a Brighter 2009; Unemployment numbers sour holiday break for ABS professionals.(ABS Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein With some industry participants getting ready for the holiday vacation, and others packing up their desks, the ABS market remained quiet last week. New issuance trickled in and trading was relatively limited in the...

Auto ABS Appetite Remains Despite Losses.(ABS Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein With performance in the auto ABS market suffering from lack of available credit to consumers, decreasing used vehicle values, and the rising unemployment rate, it seems only natural that new deal flow would be...

Wyndham Looks for Funding Alternatives to ABS.(ABS Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein As access to the securitization market remains nearly impossible, lenders are looking for other ways to shore up capital. Last week, N.J.-based hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide Corp. announced that it would...

SIFMA and ASF Establish U.S. Council for Covered Bonds.(ABS Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the American Securitization Forum (ASF) last week created a U.S. Covered Bonds Council. The new Council will serve as a collaborative forum...

When In Doubt, "Vertical Slice" It?(ABS Report)(management of structured investment vehicle)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Greg B. Cioffi and David H. Sagalyn, Seward & Kissel LLP's Asset Securitization and Global Restructuring Group In recent months, it has become readily apparent that the credit crisis that began in the summer of 2007 has been...

Mortgage Supply Takes a Breather; Originator selling is down on drop in mortgage coupons.(MBS Report)(Mortgage Bankers Association)(Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan, Thomson Reuters Mortgage performance was improving through midweek, and a major factor for this was the decline in supply compared with the previous week. Originator selling averaged $1.5 billion, down from the...

Europe Closes A Quiet Year For New Issuance; Spreads widen to unprecedented levels as investor demand and market illiquidity remain.(Global Report)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The number of European structured deals has increased as the end of the year approaches and banks seek to finance their positions for the turn of the new year. But transactions remain either privately placed or...