Asset Securitization Report articles from February 2005

Asset Securitization Report archives from February 2005

Whispers.(appointments)
February 7, 2005... Portfolio manager Anatoly Burman will leave his position at AIG to head a new structured finance group at registered investment advisor Aladdin Capital Management. Taking over Burman's responsibilities is Michael Rieger. Burman, who had been at...

ABS market set for conference round II.(Asset backed securities)
February 7, 2005... Close to three thousand ABS participants, mostly tender-foots looking forward to a reprieve from the deep freeze along the eastern seaboard, are expected to attend Information Management Network's tenth annual ABS West conference at the J.W....

PG&E rises from the ashes with $1.9 billion stranded cost deal.(Pacific Gas & Electric Co)
February 7, 2005... Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the San Francisco-based energy supplier, is back into the ABS market after an eight year absence and an historic plunge into and out of bankruptcy, but its bonds are none the worse for wear and are pricing at record...

Aladdin Capital moves into structured finance.
February 7, 2005... Investment manager Aladdin Capital Management, which has issued four CLOs, a high-grade CDO and one synthetic transaction to date, will soon begin purchasing structured finance product in order to start a relative value opportunity fund as well...

DBRS hopes to crack into auto sector.(Dominion Bond Rating Service )(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Dominion Bond Rating Service is poised to begin rating more auto deals in 2005. Chris O'Connell, vice president at DBRS, said a number of different auto ABS issuers have been sending pool data for the company to run through its auto credit...

ABS primary pumps out $11 billion.(Asset backed securities)
February 7, 2005... The U.S. ABS primary market kept pace in between conferences to price close to $11 billion last week as of Thursday's market close, as real estate ABS accounted for $4.5 billion of the total volume. Fremont Mortgage was in the market with a...

BMA seeks clarity on how offering reform will mesh with Reg AB.(Bond Market Association)(Asset backed securities)
February 7, 2005... The Bond Market Association has said it wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to be more clear on how the agency's securities offering reform proposal will affect asset-backed securities, particularly in relation to the recently approved...

Chesapeake ABS seen withstanding PHH spin-off.(Asset backed securities)
February 7, 2005... Cendant Corp., the largest travel and real estate services company in the U.S., announced last week that it had spun off subsidiary PHH Corp., an entity that housed the mortgage and fleet leasing operations of the parent company. Following...

Positive indicators overshadow looming default rates.
February 7, 2005... As the market stands witness to current low default rates, thin credit spreads, and downward flexes in the loan market, analysts from Standard & Poor's are worried that these current positive market trend indicators will paint the wrong picture...

Moody's: Upgrades to downgrades near even.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... The annual study of structured finance ratings transitions by Moody's Investors Service found that upgrades have evened out with downgrades in U.S. the structured finance market. Last year saw a spike in rating upgrades, as Moody's issued...

ABS banks on bright ideas.(Asset backed securities)
February 7, 2005... NEW YORK - There was a familiar refrain heard throughout the first day of the World Research Group's third annual conference dedicated to advancing IP structured finance held here last week - where are the deals? "Securitization is the...

Increase in C&I lending not a threat to MBS demand.(Commercial and Industrial lending)(Mortgage backed securities)
February 7, 2005... The recent increase in C&I lending, along with a rise in bank holdings, is once again highlighting the issue of bank demand in the MBS market. Moreover, analysts said they still expect bank demand to remain moderate going forward. In...

Looming events don't deter MBS buyers.(Mortgage backed securities)
February 7, 2005... Mortgage flows were active last week despite the overhang of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting and non-farm payrolls looming. The week started off with better than expected support from month-end index buying. Also supporting the bid was...

CMBS numbers on the rise in Europe.(Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities)
February 7, 2005... CMBS volumes tallied strong growth in 2004, but not to the levels industry sources had expected, which should translate into plenty of business for the 2005 calendar. "We should see a substantial increase in 2005 as most new originations did...

French legislation brought up to date: the new decree.
February 7, 2005... Last week ASR reported that France was still awaiting implementation of its new securitization decree issued in August 2004. The Financial Security Law was actually published on November 26, 2004 and fully replaces the decree of 1989,...

Banks around the world prepare for Basel II.
February 7, 2005... LONDON - The not to distant future for Basel II has arrived and the securitization industry can expect to see some structural changes as early as this year. Just around the corner is another series of consultative paper that's expected to...

Cagamas calls for SME proposals, but still no word on Islamic ABS.(small and medium sized entities)(asset back securities)
February 7, 2005... Cagamas, Malaysia's state-controlled secondary mortgage agency, has sent out RFPs for a deal backed by loans to small and medium sized entities. The RFP makes no mention of potential deal size or timing, only the assets involved, with bids due...

Whispers.(securities industry)
February 14, 2005... Research analyst Glenn Costello has left Merrill Lynch to become a co-head of the RMBS group at Fitch Ratings. Costello was hired in July 2000 to cover Merrill's real estate ABS research. He reports to Group Managing Director Gloria Aviotti who...

Syndicate: Underwriters or undertakers?(securities industry)
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - At least one panel had a healthy discussion at Information Management Network ABS West 2005 conference held here last week, as participants talked the fairness and efficiency of the allocation process for asset-backed securities. The...

Amid good times, potential negatives.
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - Amid another volume record in 2004, and seemingly endless demand driving spreads to heretofore unseen levels, more than 3,000 delegates and 143 corporate sponsors gathered yesterday for the opening panel discussion of Information...

GHLC to increase MBS issuance in 05.(Government Housing Loan Corp)(mortgage backed securities)
February 14, 2005... In Japan, the proposed bill on establishing an independent agency to replace the Government Housing Loan Corp. is expected to pass during the current session of the DIET (Japan's legislature). In a related development, GHLC completed its...

Asset-based lenders look to IP collateral for second lien loans.(intellectual property)
February 14, 2005... Issuers and investors have flocked to the second lien loan market over the past year-and-a-half, sparking U.S. second lien volume of at least $12 billion in 2004 alone - the most on record. This heightened popularity of the often yieldy debt...

ABS researchers remain positive.(Asset backed securities)
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - David Heike, head of ABS research at Lehman Brothers, started off last week's non-mortgage ABS research roundtable by likening the ABS sector to a Starbucks Frappuccino - frothy, steamy and rich. It was impossible to escape...

Where's the yield?(Asset backed securities)
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - With ABS spreads grinding ever tighter and investors showing no signs of getting up from the table, one trader gave his opinion of where investors can satisfy their cravings during a preconference workshop at Information Management...

IO performance keeps investors on guard.
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - The proliferation of IO mortgage product and adjustable rate mortgages over the past year was fodder for a lively debate about the future performance of such innovations in the mortgage market. Investors at Information Management...

CDOs draw crowds in Phoenix.(Collateralized debt obligations)
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - Delegates lined the walls for a standing room only session dedicated to CDOs, credit derivatives and synthetics at Information Management Network ABS West 2005 conference held here last week. The conference has been rife with...

Insurance ABS leads new assets in 2005.(Asset backed securities)
February 14, 2005... PHOENIX - Insurance product securitization is leading the pack in new asset classes seen throughout late last year and early this year, noted panelists at last week's Information Management Network ABS West 2005 opening panel discussion. ...

Japanese CDO market experiences decreased CDO action.(Collateralized debt obligations)
February 14, 2005... With the finalized numbers now in, it appears the market for collateralized debt obligations in Japan cooled its heels when it came to new issuance last year. Moody's Investors Service said this week that 20 Japanese CDOs were rated in...

Mortgages get scare as 10-year Tsy moves below 4%.
February 14, 2005... Last week was an interesting week in mortgages to say the least. Monday saw active buying all across the coupon stack following the larger-than-expected decline in prepayments. Higher coupons, in particular, experienced the greatest gains as a...

Are refinancing risks real?
February 14, 2005... With the recent rally taking mortgage rates just beneath 5.60% - considered by some analysts as a critical level for refinancing exposure - there is a renewed discussion in the market place about refinancing risk, particularly with the Freddie...

2004 sets record for commercial/multifamily loan originations.
February 14, 2005... Last year proved to be a record setting year for commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers as loan originations increased 16% to $136 billion from $117 billion recorded in 2003, announced the Mortgage Bankers Association in a news release...

Europe starts off week with subprime RMBS parade.(Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities )
February 14, 2005... A solid pipeline of subprime U.K. RMBS began marketing last week, offering investors approximately GBP2.1 billion (US$3.9 billion) of paper, which were all expected to price by Friday. Last year, tighter liability spreads led to decreased...

FSA's sheds more light on how U.K. will tackle the European Capital Directive.(Financial Services Authority)
February 14, 2005... The Financial Services Authority published its latest guidance on the implementation of Basel II via the European Capital Directive. The guidance provides firmer insight into how these rules - particularly in the areas allowing for national...

Asian bankers focus efforts on Korea again.
February 14, 2005... With most ex-Japan Asia ABS professionals taking time off over the Chinese New Year period last week, there was a distinct lack of activity in the region. But the early indications suggest the Year of the Rooster will be profitable for many...

Whispers.(appointments)
February 21, 2005... After market close on Thursday, United Capital Markets hired ABS secondary trader Randall White from Wachovia Securities last week. White had been principal secondary aircraft and CDO trader at Wachovia dating back to its days as First Union...

New EU entrants become a point of focus for ABS growth.(asset backed securities)
February 21, 2005... As the European ABS markets reach a point of critical mass, looking at other regions could bring the much-needed alleviation from oversupply that some investors need to create asset diversification and arbitrage opportunities. The new EU member...

No surprise in KFB lead mandates.(Korea First Bank)
February 21, 2005... Korea First Bank, last year's most prolific cross-border issuer from ex-Japan Asia, last week selected arrangers for what will be its fourth international MBS. Although 14 banks were invited to pitch, the selection of joint leads Calyon...

Store closings outweigh buyout for Circuit City.
February 21, 2005... Richmond, Va.-based electronics retailer Circuit City Stores announced last week it would close 19 of its 636 stores, just as hedge-fund Highland Capital Management made a $3.25 billion bid for the company. Though an imminent takeover may not...

GECAS prepping new aircraft ABS.(GE Capital Aviation Services)
February 21, 2005... The aircraft ABS sector appears ripe for new issue, according to some, however others question the wisdom of buying it. Comments made by United Capital Markets President John Devaney during the opening session at Information Management...

Deloitte launches Reg AB compliance tool.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Deloitte & Touche is developing a web-based product to help issuers comply with disclosure requirements in the Securities and Exchange Commission's freshly minted rule on asset-backed securities, Regulation AB. Mark Scherer, a principal in...

DBSI expects 4% ABS growth in 2005, slight downturn in HEL.(Deutsche Bank Securities)(Asset backed securities)(home equity issuance)
February 21, 2005... NEW YORK - Deutsche Bank Securities' ABS research team is predicting 4% overall growth in the sector over last year, with slowed issuance in mortgage related ABS, as interest rates creep up and home price appreciation slows. "The ABS...

BMA reports MBS issuance dropped 43% in 2004.(Bond Market Association)(mortgage-backed securities)
February 21, 2005... In its quarterly report on U.S. bond issuance released last week, the Bond Market Association reported that total bond issuance reached $5.48 trillion in 2004 versus $6.81 trillion in 2003. The major contributor to the decline was the drop in...

U.S. market heats up post-conference.
February 21, 2005... ABS West conference attendees evidently made the most of their time in Arizona, with the U.S. ABS primary market on track to price over $18 billion in new issuance for the week as of last Thursday. Despite the deluge of supply, spreads held...

Cantor Fitzgerald hires spur move into ABS, MBS.(asset-backed securities)(mortgage backed securities)
February 21, 2005... As it prepares to move into its new New York midtown digs, Cantor Fitzgerald LP is in the midst of a massive hiring spree to greatly expand the firm's debt capital markets division. Cantor announced the addition of 15 staffers earlier this...

Treasury sell-off on Greenspan's comments attracts investors back to MBS.(Mortgage backed securities)
February 21, 2005... Last week got off to a quiet start as the markets waited for Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's semiannual testimony to Congress on monetary policy. Buyers - real money, overseas and fast money - emerged Wednesday, however, as the...

DBSI: Mortgage sector outlook positive despite tight spreads.(Deutsche Bank Securities)
February 21, 2005... NEW YORK - At Deutsche Bank Securities' semi-annual media briefing held last week, MBS analysts said that their outlook for the Agency mortgage market is positive, explaining that the current supply and demand situation in the mortgage sector...

DBSI highlights potential risk factors in a market rally.(Deutsche Bank Securities)
February 21, 2005... NEW YORK - With the significant yield curve flattening witnessed recently, analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities warned that fixed-income market participants are too closely focused on the risks resulting from higher interest rates and not...

DBSI expects moderate economic growth in 2005.(Deutsche Bank Securities)
February 21, 2005... NEW YORK -At a press briefing held last week at Deutsche Bank Securities' Wall Street headquarters, chief economist Peter Hooper said that U.S. economic growth is expected to be at or above moderate this year, which could trigger inflation to...

U.K. market hosts subprime RMBS bonanza.(residential mortgage backed securities)
February 21, 2005... The fourth U.K. subprime RMBS deal priced last week, bringing total subprime issuance to date to 3.5 billion ($4.5 billion). Demand for the familiar U.K. non-conforming names drove pricing levels at the tight end of price talk, but for the new...

Whispers.
February 28, 2005... Cantor Fitzgerald has hired Brian Edmonds as managing director and head of interest rates in the firm's debt capital markets division. He will report to Irvin Goldman, CEO and president of Cantor. Edmonds joins Cantor from Banc of America where...

United Capital Markets maps growth plans: Expect issuance, underwriting, research and an IPO...(John Devaney)
February 28, 2005... At this year's ABS West 2005 conference, United Capital Markets president John Devaney outlined his firm's expansion plans in the coming 12 to 24 months, although few of the chattering conference attendees were listening. Following the recent...

Fannie Mae plans for capital restoration.(Federal National Mortgage Association)
February 28, 2005... Last week Fannie Mae announced its capital restoration plan and released its monthly volume summary, marked by continued retained portfolio declines. Analysts said that they expect this diminishing trend - with even larger drops - to continue...

Malaysian Islamic MBS moves along.(Mortgage backed securities)
February 28, 2005... The outlook for Islamic securitization seems ever brighter, as Malaysia's Cagamas continues deliberating over which banks will handle its upcoming Islamic MBS - a first for the market - other entities are getting on with the business of doing...

AmeriQuest unscathed by legal woes.(Ameriquest Mortgage Securities Inc.)
February 28, 2005... AmeriQuest Mortgage came to market with a $1.2 billion series 2005-R2 deal last week that was apparently unhindered by the company's highly publicized legal troubles earlier this month. In the beginning of February, just as the ABS West 2005...

ABS issuance slows to $3.5 billion.(Asset backed securities)
February 28, 2005... Issuance in the U.S. ABS primary market slowed considerably during the week following the Presidents' day holiday. As of last Thursday evening, just shy of $3.5 billion had priced, compared with the robust $18 billion that made the rounds the...

Tightest spreads for RRB deal not enough for some.(Real Return Bonds)(Boston Edison Co.)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... The recent Boston Edison Co. $675 million rate reduction bond deal priced to record tight spreads for the sector, coming on the heels of a $1.9 billion rate reduction bond deal from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. last month that also re-priced...

Waterfall enters ABS high-yield game.(Waterfall Asset Management)(M.D. Sass Investor Services Inc.)
February 28, 2005... Securitization professionals Tom Capasse and Jack Ross entered into a partnership with long-time asset manager M.D. Sass to start a new distressed ABS opportunity hedge fund. Capasse and Ross, who launched their investment company,...

February brings flurry of ratings for MH sector.(manufactured housing)
February 28, 2005... A barrage of ratings actions assaulted the harrowed manufactured housing sector with all three major rating agencies taking action on transactions from seven different issuers in the past three weeks. Six of the seven issuers had deals...

Tobacco lawsuit still smolders... ABS could feel the heat.(Asset backed securities)(Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)
February 28, 2005... Cashflows servicing outstanding ABS backed by tobacco litigation fees could still be in jeopardy should the Department of Justice be successful in its efforts to appeal a recent federal appellate court ruling. The DOJ had been seeking to...

Research offers new option in debate over CDO correlation.(Collateralized Debt Obligation )
February 28, 2005... Rating agencies have always had different views of asset correlation assumptions, so when it comes to rating synthetic CDOs, methodologies vary so widely investors have felt less than concrete with the guidance given. Default correlation,...

CMBS: Triple-As still have some value despite recent gains.(Commercial mortgage backed securities)
February 28, 2005... In the CMBS sector, spreads have been tightening across the longer-maturity single-A rated tranches, and within those credits the double-A sector has been outperforming. The spread between triple-A and double-A is only six basis points, where...

Like its rival, Freddie Mac's portfolio shrinks too.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... In the midst of a swirl of negative GSE-related news last week, Freddie Mac added to the commotion by reporting a decrease in its retained portfolio. However, the GSE's total mortgage portfolio showed some signs of growth. Freddie's...

Fitch: GSEs' triple-A senior debt ratings are safe, for now.(Fitch and Associates Inc.)
February 28, 2005... In a conference call and a report entitled GSEs: Are the AAA' Ratings at Risk? Fitch Ratings analysts said that, at present, there are no threats to Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's triple-A senior debt ratings despite these agencies' accounting...

IFRS tax issues will not immediately impact U.K. SPVs.(International Financial Reporting Standards and Special Purpose Vehicles)
February 28, 2005... The ratings on U.K. SPVs remain unaffected by the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the potential tax implications for these SPVs, analysts at Fitch Ratings said. ...

Anglian Water lets the tap flow as Euro ABS market heats up.(Asset backed securities)(Anglian Water Services PLC)
February 28, 2005... Anglian Water Services was back tapping the market with a GBP150 million ($287 million) reopening of its 2002 whole business securitization, the third offering to come from the GBP1.76 billion total program and follows the GBP250 million...

On the road to Basel II, the kinks begin to appear.(Accord on the International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, 2001 (Draft))
February 28, 2005... Under Basel II, some originators will soon have the option to call outstanding mortgage bonds at an earlier date, which could put investors who buy these notes at high cash premiums in the secondary at a loss. Structures incorporate the...

The E.U. prospectus directive and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.
February 28, 2005... By Mark Lewis, partner, Bailhache Labesse and director, LordSPV Management (Jersey) Ltd. The Channel Islands Stock Exchange is reporting an increase in demand for new listings as promoters, managers and issuers take stock of the...

For Korea Highway Corp., all roads lead to ABS.
February 28, 2005... News emerged last week from Seoul that Korea Highway Corp., the South Korean government agency responsible for road construction, repair and maintenance, plans to issue roughly W1 trillion ($997 million) of ABS issuance in 2005. The Korean...

Japanese SME launched, parking ABS prepped.(Mizuho Securities)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Last week in Japan, a Y19.2 billion ($182.8 million) CLO was launched via Mizuho Securities last week as part of a government initiative to provide funding for small and medium sized enterprises. The transaction - named Tokyo Supporters CLO -...