CDOs/CLOs

The efforts of five Wisconsin school districts to recoup their ill-fated $200 million investment in CDOs have received reinforcement in the form of possible Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) action against an investment bank for its role in the transaction.

Like a pesky cold, the loan market just can’t shake the “skin in the game” provision — a risk retention rule in the Dodd-Frank bill that would require “a securitizer” to retain 5% of the assets of a securitized vehicle.

Fitch Ratings downgraded four senior tranches from three European CLOs of leveraged loan transactions.

Churchill Financial Group is jumping on the business development company bandwagon.

While saying JPMorgan Chase & Co. had enough capital already to comply with new Basel III requirements, Jamie Dimon, the bank's chairman and chief executive, said regulators had gone too far in crafting the international capital accord.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Tuesday that Wells Fargo Securities agreed to settle charges that Wachovia Capital Markets engaged in misconduct in the sale of two CDOs tied to the performance of RMBS as the U.S. housing market was beginning to show signs of distress in late 2006 and early 2007.

KKR plans to offer a closed-end fund that invests in loans and other fixed-income securities issued by below-investment grade companies.

Jay Hohman has landed a position as managing director at Cohen & Company Capital Markets.

Investors have proven slow to return to the European securitization market. The limited appetite has been matched by a lackluster amount of securitization supply that market analysts said has created an imbalance in secondary and primary securitization pricing.

Formulating the rules to implement the Dodd-Frank Act has proven to be challenging. Regulators both missed and moved deadlines to accomplish this monumental task.