Allison Bisbey

For the first time in almost two years, borrowers are taking out floating-rate loans to refinance their student debt. So Navient is testing investor appetite for floating-rate bonds backed by refinance loans.

Jonathan Levine, who represents asset managers and private funds in their investments in distressed situations, joins the firm from Morrison & Foerster.

At least 25 business development companies have obtained board approval to increase leverage in line with a new regulatory limit, but most are subject to a one-year cooling-off period, according to DBRS.

The loan used as collateral is part of $410 million of financing the sponsor obtained from Societe Generale to refinance the redevelopment of a 10-story mixed-use building on Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan.

Office buildings account for roughly 40% of the collateral, and much of it is in suburbia, where defaults and losses can be higher, according to S&P Global Ratings.

The remainder of the collateral was contributed by Goldman Sachs, which is also holding onto 5% of the risk in the deal to comply with risk retention rules.

A $1.1 billion mortgage from four banks on eight buildings in Cambridge, Mass., is being bundled into collateral for CAMB Commercial Mortgage Trust 2019-LIFE.

The only change to the deal is a slightly smaller prefunding amount; one loan that had been expected to be acquired after settlement has already been closed.

Now that the noncompete has expired, Navient plans to market private student loans to borrowers in school; the servicing giant is also free from restrictions on marketing refinance loans through Earnest.

Since the financial crisis, only one other sponsor, Invictus Capital Partners, has issued publicly rated mortgage bonds backed entirely by investor loans.

The specialty finance company is contributing all of the collateral for the $259.7 million deal; by comparison, the previous deal included collateral contributed by Goldman Sachs.

The company has filed a request with a federal judge in Pennsylvania for a summary judgment in two counts against it, accusing the bureau of failing to provide evidence.

The sponsor is borrowing against 100% of the $225 million of Property Assessed Clean Energy assets used as collateral for the bonds.

It may not signal a recession, but structured finance pros are still preparing for a more risk-off environment.

That's in contrast with the sponsor's prior deal, completed in December, which tested the waters for mortgage bonds backed exclusively by second liens.

At Ginnie Mae, Michael Bright worked closely with Congress to fight churn in VA mortgages; he plans to bring the same collaborative approach to the Structured Finance Industry Group.

Michael Bright is resigning as acting president of Ginnie Mae to run the Structured Finance Industry Group, a trade association that's been without a CEO since Richard Johns resigned in July amid a reported split with the group's board.

S&P sees some potential integration risk that could materially affect the business being reinsured; in November it lowered its issuer credit ratings and financial strength ratings on Aetna.

The $748 million Navient Student Loan Trust 2019-1 looks a lot like the four FFELP deals the sponsor completed in 2018; it is backed by a mix of rehab (19.6%) and non-rehab (80.4%) loans.

David Klass is known for his insights into tax developments in the U.K. related to Brexit; he joins the firm after more than a decade at Gide Loyrette Nouel.