Asset Securitization Report articles from November 2008

Asset Securitization Report archives from November 2008

Whispers.(Whispers)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Sidley Austin has tapped six partners and a number of counsel and associates from Heller Ehrman. The new partners Sara Brody, Marie Fiala, Michael Rugen and Carol Lynn Thompson will be located in the firm's San...

European CMBS Still Faces a Strained Environment: The number of loans in default remains extremely low, but the future looks dim.(Global)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer Moody's Investors Service said last week that the industrial property markets remain rather resilient in terms of supply/demand and vacancy rates, but the supply and demand volatility ratios indicate transition risk in...

U.K. Mortgage Repo Rules Change.(Global)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The U.K. government announced new rules that will better protect homeowners facing repossessions. This after a call from several U.K. charities highlighted that nationalized banks were aggressively and recently...

Riding the Trough: Tougher Times for ILS.(Cover Story)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The insurance-linked securitization (ILS) market is beginning to feel the credit pinch as malfunction in the financial markets touches every corner of the economy. Even insurers are finding that where they...

Argentine ABS Pivots on Pension Grab.(Column)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Felipe Ossa Even those familiar with the Argentine government's taste for theatrical populism were floored when President Cristina Fernandez announced two weeks ago that private pension funds would be nationalized. Denigrating...

ABS Market Down With the Times: ABS spreads gap out even further as the economy worsens and securitization stalls.(ABS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein The new issue ABS market remained virtually stagnant for yet another week, signaling that general economic conditions are only going to deteriorate further in weeks to come. Adding further pressure is the flood...

Annual SIFMA Meeting Calls for a Regulatory Revamp.(ABS)(Conference news)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's (SIFMA) annual meeting to New York last Tuesday, speaking at the conference's opening presentation. He started off...

CDS Disputes Rise Amid Slew of Structured Finance Litigation.(ABS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein It seems the only busy sector of the structured finance market lately is litigation. With the dearth of liquidity, market participants ranging from banks and insurers to private investors and hedge funds are...

CPFF and MMIFF Test Market Waters.(ABS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan Government efforts to rescue the commercial paper market kicked into full gear last week, as two Federal Reserve-sponsored programs got a jump-start. The Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), which is aimed at...

Mixed Results for October Remits.(ABS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The October remittance reports - which represented the collection period for September - showed mixed results. For one, ABX 06-1 60+ day loan delinquencies continued to level off at 36%, and the rises in 60+ day...

CMBS Show Signs of Stress: Financing constraints and credit fundamentals are working against the previously unharmed sector.(MBS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan CMBS default rates have been low historically, but now market troubles are starting to ring through a sector that, previously, was relatively immune. JPMorgan Securities analysts, in a recent presentation, stated...

Mortgages Struggle Out of October.(MBS)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan/Thomson Reuters The wait for the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) decision on Wednesday afternoon contributed to limited volume in the first half of the week. On Monday and Tuesday, mortgages significantly...

Whispers.(Whispers)(Company overview)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Merrill Lynch ABS trader Matt Swaski is no longer with the bank. A source close to the company said he has been gone for several weeks and was not aware if he had yet moved to a new firm. Calls to Merrill Lynch for...

Itau, Unibanco Merger Raises ABS Questions.(Global)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Felipe Ossa An announced merger between Brazilian banking behemoths Banco Itau Holding Financeiro and Unibanco-Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros has reverberated through Sao Paulo's financial sector, as the move would produce the...

Loan Overload.(Cover Story)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan With the massive number of bad loans that servicers are being bombarded with, these companies are faced with seemingly insurmountable capacity, legal and tax issues. Can they handle the onslaught? Modifications...

Merrill Lynch ABS trader Matt Swaski is no longer.(Column)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer American politics took center stage last week, but the message President-elect Barack Obama had for U.S. citizens could be applied across Europe as well. It took nearly a decade to create the market dynamics that...

Rating Agency Reports Show Stalled ABS Market; Uncertainty over TARP's effect on ABS securities delays market rebound.(ABS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein The ABS market suffered another week of silence as new issuance remained virtually non-existent and trading continued to slow. ABS traders expressed a sense of frustration at the stalled market conditions,...

NewOak's D'Vari Calls for Govt. Guarantee.(ABS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein As the U.S. government continues to unveil measures aimed at preventing foreclosures and shoring up liquidity in the capital markets, industry participants have widely expressed concern over the lack of activity in...

Centerline Takes Steps Toward Recovery.(ABS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein As unforgiving commercial mort-gage market conditions continue to challenge the financial services industry, Centerline Holding Co., the parent company of Centerline Capital Group - an alternative asset manager with...

Banks Eye Hybrid ABL, Securitization Structure.(ABS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals/Bank Loan Report A growing number of banks are providing hybrid facilities that combine asset-based loans (ABL) with special purpose vehicles (SPV). These facilities, which multinational European companies...

CW: Pursuing Risk as A Matter of Course: CMBS veteran Tad Philipp will head up CWCI 's new risk management group.(MBS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein As commercial real estate market woes keep investors' eyes fixed on mounting losses instead of new deal flow, firms with expertise in valuing these commercial assets have increased their focus on securities and loan...

Strengthening in Dollar Rolls Rallies MBS.(MBS)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan/Thomson Reuters The wait and focus on the Presidential election kept volume below normal on Monday and Tuesday of last week. The tone, however, was decidedly supportive on the significant improvement in Libor, which...

Economic Woes to Hit Euro Credit Card ABS; Stressed scenario causes card performance levels to remain above base case expectations.(Global)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer European credit card securitizations could start feeling the heat as continued economic deterioration places further performance pressure on transactions that have, until now, withstood the turmoil. The deals have...

Whispers.(Whispers)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff RiverSource Investments, a unit of Ameriprise Financial, has hired Todd White as structured assets sector team leader. White will be a portfolio manager for the following retail and variable portfolio (VP) funds:...

Spanish Government Opens New Fund.(Global)
November 17, 2008... Byline: NoraColomer The new Spanish government fund Fondo de Adquisicion de Activos Financieros (FAAF) will start operations this week. The fund is intended to strengthen domestic bank liquidity through asset purchases, with Cedulas or...

TARP Dead on Arrival: What's Next for the ABS Industry?(Cover Story)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein With economic conditions worsening, the U.S. government has stepped up its bailout efforts - doling out $250 billion allotted under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) for equity investments in financial...

ReREMICs Tell the ABS Story.(Column)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan Resecuritizations or ReREMICs are following the trajectory of the ABS market pretty closely. ABS participants initially turned to this structure because it was a path to market liquidity. It was good way for...

Lack of Pricing Clarity Still Plagues ABS Market: ABX slides to its lowest point ever after Secretary Paulson's statements.(ABS)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein The ABS market suffered yet another week of frozen new issuance and paltry trading activity in the secondary market. Hopes of pricing clarity for illiquid assets were quashed when Treasury Secretary Henry...

FHFA Announces Streamlined Loan Modification Program.(ABS)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan and Sally A. Runyan /Thomson Reuters The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a new streamlined loan modification program last Tuesday. Loans that will come under the program include those of high-risk...

Terminating Transactions Under a 1992 Master Agreement Following an Event of Default.(ABS)
November 17, 2008... Recent events in the financial markets have highlighted the importance of parties to a 1992 Master Agreement1 understanding the termination mechanics following an event of default. It is now more vital than ever for the Non-defaulting Party to...

Auto Sector Needs Help Too.(ABS)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The automotive sector was in the spotlight last week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for an emergency and limited financial assistance package for the beleaguered industry. President-elect Barack Obama also asked...

Mixed Flows in Short Trading Week: Selling picked up after Secretary Paulson said no to buying troubled mortgages.(MBS)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan/Thomson Reuters Through midweek last week, mortgages experienced modest two-way flows and a less supportive tone versus the first week of November. Heavy and widespread buying - pushed by the improvement in Libor...

Euro Housing Still on the Decline Despite Rate Cuts: Rate cuts will do little to improve the marginal bid for housing in U.K and Spain.(Global)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer Aggressive rate cuts over the past week - the Bank of England's (BofE) 150 basis points easing along with the European Central Bank's 50 basis points cut - are likely to improve loan affordability in existing household...

Spain Launches New Defense Against Mortgage Defaults.(Global)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The Spanish government announced the launch of a mortgage deferral measure to aid unemployed, old-age pensioners and self-employed borrowers struggling to pay their mortgages. Although the move could potentially...

WHISPERS.(Whispers)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Ramesh Singh, head of real estate and securitized (RE&S) products. is departing UBS to spend more time with his family and to subsequently pursue other career opportunities, according to an internal UBS memo. The...

European CMBS Market Sees Spate of Downgrades There's a variety of reasons for European CMBS negative rating actions.(Global)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer Moody's Investors Service's recent lowering of Ambac and MBIAs' ratings to 'Baa1' spurred a massive flow of downgrades. The European CMBS sector has been especially hard hit. It saw downgrades from all three...

EC Preps New Regulatory Environment for Rating Agencies.(Global)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Nora Colomer The European Commission (EC) disclosed its proposal for regulating credit rating agencies, following calls for regulatory oversight of these companies. The regulations aim to impose rules that address four main...

The Future of the GSEs.(Column)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Bill Berliner Even in the current Era of Large Numbers, the third quarter "earnings" reports for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were shockingly bad. The two firms combined have lost a total of $54.2 billion dollars. The bulk of...

New Year to Ring in Deal Flow? Bid lists flood the secondary market, but there are no takers.(ABS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein With November fast approaching December and the end of 2008, ABS market participants have all but written off new issuance activity until at least January. While secondary market activity remains robust, with...

Govt. Program Not Enough to Offset TruPS CDO Losses.(ABS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle stein Weak economic conditions have put capital strains on trust preferred securities (TruPS) issuers, causing a rise in payment deferrals and defaults within pools of these assets, TruPS CDOs. Despite the...

Assured Bulks Up Balance Sheet With FSA Purchase.(ABS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Gabrielle Stein In a down market, only the fittest survive. With financial guarantors facing downgrades and insolvency, Assured Guaranty is pooling its resources with the only other triple-A rated monoline, Financial Security...

Private Student Loan Players Ask Govt. for Help Under TARP.(ABS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The President and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Philip Day wrote Margaret Spellings, U.S. Department of Education (ED) secretary, and Henry Paulson, head of the...

SEC Delays Rating Agency Reform Rules Transparency is the solution and not the use designated symbols.(MBS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Karen Sibayan The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Wednesday delayed a resolution on adopting rules that related to the regulation of credit rating agencies. The Commission will return to the issue on Dec. 3. Back...

BofA Loan Mod Plan to Be Tweaked.(MBS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Kate Berry/ American Banker Bank of America Corp.'s plan to modify 400,000 mortgages is proving to be more complicated than expected - and not only because there are third-party investors involved. The Charlotte company's deal...

Uncertain Outlook Leads to Investor Apathy.(MBS)
November 24, 2008... Byline: Sally A. Runyan/Thomson Reuters Mortgage volume was running substantially below normal through midweek with spreads steadily widening despite buying support from money managers, hedge funds, banks and the U.S. Department of the...