CDOs/CLOs

It’s official: Leveraged loans are back in Europe and they are here to stay.

The market for CMBS has staged a comeback this year, and now it appears that there is some interest in restarting the market for CDOs backed by commercial real estate (CRE) as well.

Pricing on a CLO managed by Symphony Asset Management has been set by Morgan Stanley, according to sources.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to propose new rules and amendments for increasing credit rating transparency and improving their integrity.

Syncora Guarantee reported positive net income for the first quarter but said it faces liquidity problems that threaten its future long-term obligations.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new rules last week to update how companies account for repurchase agreements like the kind Lehman Brothers used to temporarily move billion of dollars of assets temporarily off its books and hide how much debt it had just before reporting its quarterly results.

Citigroup on Tuesday priced a $408 million CLO managed by BlackRock, according to sources.

Fitch Ratings has set up a page of performance markers for structured finance deals across the globe on its web site, the agency said today. The page will link to over 40 performance-based products, and in part is a response to investor demands for more transparency. Among its features are U.S. RMBS performance and loss metrics, Australia’s RMBS Dinkum Index, and the Mexican RMBS Performance Update.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a trade reporting notice today regarding when to report ABS to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).

Assured Guaranty’s recent settlement with Bank of America allowed it to post much higher operating earnings in the first quarter compared with 2010, but actual business production fell about a third.