Asset Securitization Report articles from June 2007

Asset Securitization Report archives from June 2007

Whispers.
June 4, 2007... Calyon, the corporate and investment banking arm of French bank Credit Agricole Group, made two new additions last week to its U.S. credit markets division. Mariano Goldfischer - who was formerly a high-yield bond, CDS and LCDS trader with...

Getting the Currency Recipe Right: "This approach could signal where international investors stand on rubles vis-a-vis euros when it comes to secured product.".
June 4, 2007... Russia's Gazprombank was roadshowing its second cross-border RMBS last week. On the face of it, not too exciting. But its structure has a tweak from the debut deal, one that should pique the attention of global players across emerging markets....

Growing Up With The Market.
June 4, 2007... When I began reporting on securitization nearly eight years ago, Asset Securitization Report was just a 12-page newsletter known as Asset Sales Report. At that time, ABS was a much more rarefied market, and many of the companies considering...

Is Euro RMBS on Solid Ground? Investor appetite for U.K. RMBS continues to be strong, although cracks are beginning to develop.
June 4, 2007... Over the last five years, European RMBS has proved to be good as gold for investors, especially in the U.K. market where the most trading happens. Some investment bankers have heralded this era as an age of unprecedented prosperity, with one...

British (& Aussie) RMBS Invasion Anticipated.
June 4, 2007... A couple of British and Australian RMBS deals recently distinguished themselves in the issuance market, a sign for some in the asset securitization business that a wave of such products could be on the way. "Given the noise recently,...

Churchill Financial Expands Investment Team And Ups Assets.
June 4, 2007... Churchill Financial is looking to increase its assets. The New York-based middle-market finance company is not only bulking up its portfolio, but also adding breadth with the recent opening of a Chicago office and several new additions to its...

Examining HPA and RMBS Default Rates.
June 4, 2007... In examining the link between the rate of home price inflation and residential mortgage default rates for subprime loans, Fitch Ratings demonstrates the strong negative correlation between the two. In short, high rates of home price inflation...

Market Ponders ABX Price Volatility.
June 4, 2007... After taking a break in April, the three ABX.HE indices experienced an at-times brutal decline in quality last month, with 30-day and 60-day delinquencies on the rise for all indices, while analysts feared that the newest market index, ABX...

Moody's: Credit Card Sector Holding Up, No Contagion Risk.(Brief article)
June 4, 2007... Moody's Investors Service said in a report last week that despite concerns about subprime mortgage deterioration spilling over, the credit card sector's performance is still within the rating agency's expectations. In fact, Moody's expects no...

ALG Gets Preliminary High Marks.
June 4, 2007... Market interest was strong and expectations high last week before Academic Loan Group priced its $1.3 billion ALG Student Loan Trust II. The SLABS transaction was expected to do very well across all tranches because of the high-quality...

Macroeconomic Concerns Cited For 2H07.
June 4, 2007... Performance of ABS deals remained strong through April, but macroeconomic concerns might eventually weaken performance later in 2007. Specifically, housing market weakness continues. At the same time, retail sales have slowed, and American...

Next Big Tobacco Found in Ohio.
June 4, 2007... Ohio looks to be next on the list of state governments securitizing their share of the $200 billion national tobacco settlement. The Buckeye State is considering a deal that, if approved, could provide a massive payday to underwriters and a...

Mortgages Exit Tough Month.
June 4, 2007... Activity over the early first half of the holiday-shortened week was relatively quiet with mixed flows. Data was sparse in the beginning of the week, and many participants were still off on vacation. There was some light Asian buying in the...

Axing of QSPE Concept Marks Recent FAS 140 Talks.
June 4, 2007... In response to questions surrounding the appropriate level of passiveness for QSPEs in FAS 140, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) told its staff members last week to consider completely removing the QSPE concept from FAS 140 as...

European PIKs Could Interest CDOs.
June 4, 2007... The issuance of holdco pay-in-kind (PIK) notes in Europe's leveraged finance market, for purposes other than shareholder payouts, has been increasing rapidly. While most market participants believe this growth is just another expression of...

Mexico's Farac To Add New Impulse to ABS.
June 4, 2007... The Mexican government will soon start selling off operating concessions for highways that it rescued in the aftermath of the Tequila Crisis of 1994. The first batch of roads is slated to land on the auction block next month, and players are...

Streamlined Driving Ahead For Autos.
June 11, 2007... Sometimes the thought of diminished ABS issuance, whether one sector or the whole business, rubs people the wrong way. It conjures up thoughts of sluggish productivity, and no one wants such a condition to go on for very long. Auto loan...

Whispers.
June 11, 2007... Unicredit's markets and investment banking division has hired Dennis Conway as a director in its U.S. asset-backed finance group. Conway will be structuring conduit and term transactions and reporting to group head Robert Fleisher. ...

Little Pricing Fallout Seen From HEL News: Disciplined, cleaner portfolio puts Countrywide ahead of pricing pack.
June 11, 2007... In the recent past, two instances of negative news from the subprime mortgage market might have rocked pricing on HEL issuances. That was not the case last week, even after NovaStar Financial wrapped up a $1.3 billion issuance just ahead of an...

Lone Star Bids for Accredited Amid Subprime Buying Frenzy.
June 11, 2007... In what it hopes will be an uplifting step in a sinking subprime market, struggling residential mortgage provider Accredited Home Lenders agreed to be acquired by private equity fund Lone Star Fund for approximately $400 million, or $15.10 cash...

ASF Panelists Speak Out On Subprime Regulations.(American Securitization Forum)
June 11, 2007... New York - Tighter underwriting was the catch phrase at the American Securitization Forum's annual conference last Wednesday. Market participants called for more stringent lending standards, increased market transparency and more attention to...

Deutsche Snags Trio For Investment Group.(appointments)(Deutsche Bank Securities)(Brief article)
June 11, 2007... Deutsche Bank Securities bulked up its investment solutions group - within the global capital markets division - last week with the addition of three new hires. Phil Li joins as a director with a focus on securitizing nontraditional risks....

MBS Hit by Heavy Selling; 10-year Moves Above 5%.
June 11, 2007... Extension risk was the watchword as the week started. Early week research from both Countrywide Securities and Barclays Capital, for example, highlighted the risk, saying that the mortgage market hadn't yet begun to reflect the significant...

European Covered Bonds in Ongoing Changes.
June 11, 2007... Covered bonds will continue to grow healthily into 2007, thanks to newcomers and new regulations, despite issuance slowing in some markets. The introduction of new regulations in Denmark and Norway, as well as the successful entrance of...

Shoring up CMBS: Credit Enhancement On The Rise.
June 11, 2007... The CMBS market has been running strong for some time, as CMBS deals have, until recently, been considered a relatively cheap means of financing, serving as a popular way to fund buyouts, for example. Yet growth has come at the expense of deal...

Babson Hits the Middle Ground.(Babson Capital Management )
June 11, 2007... Charlotte, N.C.-based investment management firm Babson Capital Management closed Babson Mid-Market CLO Ltd. 2007-II, the firm's first CLO to focus on middle-market loans, and the eighth CLO closed by the U.S. bank loan team in the past two...

Consumer Card Performance Ebbs.
June 11, 2007... Quarterly credit card payment rates dropped for the first time in five years, as did one-month excess spread numbers. Yet the numbers did not revive concerns about whether consumers are finally becoming overwhelmed with debt. According to...

May Prepay Increase Less Than Expected.(Brief article)
June 11, 2007... Prepayments in May increased less than initially expected. Speeds on FNMA were predicted to rise about 10% for 5.5% and lower coupons, and 6s and 6.5s slightly less at 7%. Actual speeds, however, were 4% higher on average in the lower part of...

Opportunities Seen in Agency Fixed IOs.
June 11, 2007... Expectations for slowing in prepayment speeds for agency fixed-rate IOs relative to amortizing loans offer a compelling investment opportunity, Bear Stearns analysts said in a recent report. Within the agency universe, analysts said there...

Freddie Mac Sees Uptick In Values.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 11, 2007... Freddie Mac last week released its quarterly home price survey for 1Q07. The GSE's data indicated that home values rose 0.4% for the quarter, or 1.7% on an annualized basis. This compares with a revised annualized growth of 5.4% for 4Q06. The...

Anticipation of IMN's Barcelona Puts Into Deal Pricing.
June 11, 2007... With buyers about to be tied up with engagements at this week's Barcelona conference, dealers rushed to get deals priced last week, squeezing in even the more unusual asset classes along with the regular slate of RMBS as part of the lineup. ...

AXA in 2.6B-plus Auto Ins Deal.(Natixis)
June 11, 2007... European insurer AXA announced the securitization of its motor insurance portfolios. Managed by the French bank Natixis, the deal securitizes the loss risk on the portfolios of motor insurance policies drawn from Italy, Spain, Germany and...

Markit Announces ABCDS Service.
June 11, 2007... Data provider Markit Group has launched the first independent, daily consensus spread service for credit default swaps referencing asset-backed securities (ABCDS). Markit sources say the service was created partly due to a lack of supply...

Whispers.(GE Asset Management Inc. promoted it's two employees Katy Rossow and Eric Gould)(Moody Monthly will publish it's monthly enhanced monitoring reports)(Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft moved it's office to Beijing)
June 18, 2007... GE Asset Management promoted two members of its fixed income investment team. Katy Rossow is now head of fixed income and Eric Gould is the new senior vice president and head of structured product investing. Rossow's responsibilities will...

Sallie Mae To Borrow Big For LBO: Student loan lender on its way to junk territory.
June 18, 2007... With the ouster of a boss by a group of new bosses and government investigations, the recent history of student loan issuer SLM Corp. or Sallie Mae is the finance world's answer to "The Sopranos." Unlike the popular cable television show,...

Everquest IPO Offers CDO Risk.
June 18, 2007... Everquest's IPO will give equity investors one of their first opportunities to take a concentrated stake in the fast-growing CDO market, provided they can muster trust in the company's CDO valuations. Everquest, set up last September by...

Party Far From Over In Euro Credit Markets.
June 18, 2007... European securitization continues to expand at a torrid pace. During morning discussions at last week's Global ABS conference held in Barcelona, delegates got a mixed view as to the implications of such growth. While several top European...

2007 CDO Numbers Ride Coattails Of Strong 2006.
June 18, 2007... U.S. CDO issuance has continued its rapid growth thus far in 2007, despite contraction in the subprime market, which has traditionally been a popular source of collateral. But the investment vehicle may be running out of fuel as market players...

Loan Modifications Pick Up Pace Despite Speed Bumps.
June 18, 2007... With subprime borrowers facing resets on interest rates within the next few months and lacking the ability to refinance, loan modifications may be the "best and possibly the only option remaining in order to keep these borrowers in their...

CMSA Panel Focuses On Fast Money And Volume: Conference attendees were split on fast money's role.
June 18, 2007... Fast money has been a large contributor to volatility in the CMBS market, said panelists at last week's Commercial Mortgage Securities Association conference in New York. Despite increased participation by hedge funds, attendees at the...

CMSA Convention Kicks Off With Discussion On CMBS Gatekeeper.
June 18, 2007... The Commercial Mortgage Securities Association (CMSA) held its 13th annual convention in New York last week. Outgoing CMSA President Kent Born opened the meeting by recalling a comment he made at CMSA's January meeting in Florida. At that time,...

Latest Shindig At Barcelona The Biggest Ever.(Global ABS conference regarding securities market)(Conference news)
June 18, 2007... Information Management Network's (IMN) and the European Securitization Forum's (ESF) Global ABS conference held in Barcelona last week kicked off another record year in terms of attendance - a testament to the growing European securitization...

Kazakh Consumer ABS To Come.
June 18, 2007... Dresdner Kleinwort expects to close a consumer loan securitization from Kazakhstan this year, according to Sandeep Reddy, vice-president of the securitized and principal finance group. The deal will be in dollars, while the collateral -...

Euro RMBS Lures Crowds.
June 18, 2007... Space in the U.K. RMBS market is getting more cramped than the halls of last week's Global ABS conference held in Barcelona. However, panelists said, there is ample room for growth - in the U.K. as well as in other European ABS markets - just...

XLCA Focuses On Turkey, Russia.(XL Capital Assurance)(Interview)
June 18, 2007... Participants at last week's Global ABS conference held in Barcelona looked east, as a handful of panelists tackled the country of Turkey. ASR's Felipe Ossa caught up with one of them, XLCA Managing Director David Stortz, to chat about this...

Infonavit Looks Cross Border.(residential mortgage backed securities)(Brief article)
June 18, 2007... Infonavit, Mexico's biggest mortgage originator, plans to issue a cross-border RMBS at the end of this year or the beginning of 2008, said Jose de Jesus Gomez, coordinator of the state agency's mortgage program. The Mexican originator has...

U.S. Covered Bond Market Takes Flight.
June 18, 2007... When it comes to covered bonds, the U.S. structured finance market is a quick study. Last September, Washington Mutual became the first American issuer to complete a covered bond transaction. The size of the program, 20 billion ($26.5 billion),...

Whispers.
June 25, 2007... RBS Greenwich Capital's Peter DiMartino, managing director of ABS and MBS research, is bound for the research team at Bear Stearns, according to market sources. Neither investment bank would confirm these plans, but sources familiar with the...

Mixed ABS Issuance Insulates Against HEL Fire.
June 25, 2007... Securitization professionals last week had a lot to celebrate - and bemoan. Just when it looked like the subprime MBS market was emerging from its early-year volatility, the sector destabilized again, triggering an investor rush to sell off CDO...

Panelists Look Ahead At RMBS.(Discussion)
June 25, 2007... While market participants remained glued to the topic of subprime and the future of the mortgage market, international influence on the sector also jumped onto the agenda at the International Quality & Productivity Center's Residential...

Second-Lien Risk Intensifies in Wobbly Subprime Market.
June 25, 2007... Second-lien loans, especially in the subprime market, have always been a more questionable investment as of result of their layered risk and second priority payouts. But with the lack of homeowner equity and less home price appreciation,...

Already Slipping, Subprime Loses Grip.
June 25, 2007... Several months ago, as a stunned subprime MBS market was still reeling from crumbling fundamentals, selloffs and wide spreads, the capital markets thought that the hedge fund industry - despite its conflicted history with the subprime MBS...

IKB, Morgan Stanley And Mizuho Unveil Innovative SIV Plans.
June 25, 2007... June is turning out to be an important month for a couple of structured investment vehicle (SIV) programs. Mizuho Securities announced plans to roll out a SIV-lite deal collateralized by leveraged loans, and Morgan Stanley arranged a program...

Reverse Mortgages Showing No Reversals.
June 25, 2007... Mortgage-backed securities under-writers had better get accustomed to a heap of reverse mortgages in all shapes and sizes turning up in securitizations, as the product is experiencing white-hot growth and shows no signs of cooling down. ...

Analysts Express Optimism For MBS: Less convexity risk and fixed-rate supply make the sector look good.
June 25, 2007... The recent dramatic selloff that moved the 10-year Treasury above 5% has improved the outlook on MBS, Street analysts said. For instance, Lehman Brothers analysts noted several reasons to be optimistic on the sector as convexity risk is...

MBS Lagging ABS, CMBS And Corporates.
June 25, 2007... As the market initially strengthened at the start of last week and then began to sell off on Wednesday, MBS participants were generally better sellers, with flows directed up in coupon. Asian investors were again on the quieter side as yields...

Casino LBOs Gamble On CMBS.
June 25, 2007... History, of a sort, was made in October when Colony Capital sold $960 million in CMBS backed by four casino properties for Resorts International Holdings in a deal led by JPMorgan, with an assist from Deutsche Bank. It was the first time...

JPMorgan Uses Flow For Subprime.
June 25, 2007... JPMorgan Chase said its correspondent division, which has been buying subprime mortgages only in bulk, will begin buying them on a loan-by-loan basis this year. Such "flow" programs are increasingly important to originators concerned about...

Spread Pressure At Mezzanine Level Continues: Fears of contagion risk from subprime fallout persist.
June 25, 2007... U.S. market disruptions have put a damper on the good times Europe has been enjoying until now. While the European market is generally optimistic, the pressure on spreads at the mezzanine level continues to remind players of the world beyond....

GSC And Ares Launch Euro CLOs.
June 25, 2007... The European CLO market was hot last week with two U.S. fund managers announcing the close of their latest vehicles from management arms across the pond. GSC Group announced the completion of fundraising on its latest CDO, GSC European CDO V, a...

No Summer Holiday For Euro ABS Market.
June 25, 2007... The Information Management Network/European Securitization Forum Global ABS Barcelona conference is now wrapped, the lights have been dimmed at the beachside nightclubs and the business cards swept off the floor. And while a few stuck around...

SME Financing Gaining Ground And Changing Face: SME Financing Gaining Ground And Changing Face: Denmark and Spain emerge as top SME players.
June 25, 2007... The recent joint 4.5 billion ($6.4 billion) Danske Bank and KfW Bankengruppe securitization deal on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe is a highlight of the growing SME securitization market. The transaction, made up primarily of...

Ginnie Mae's Second Wind?
June 25, 2007... With every week bringing a fresh wave of bad news about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, one player that could benefit greatly from the distress is Ginnie Mae, which could potentially reverse years of declining new issuance as...