CDOs/CLOs

Goldman Sachs underwrote $14.5 billion in CDOs in 2006 and took short positions against only 1% of the total, according to prepared testimony to be delivered today before the financial crisis inquiry commission.

Standard & Poor's has announced the categories of debt instruments which ratings will have a structured finance identifier.

The big three credit rating agencies have long made the disclaimer that investors should not use ratings as a substitute for independent judgment. Now regulators want banks to prove they aren't doing that.

Pillsbury has acquired a large group of finance and corporate attorneys from Nixon Peabody.

Blocking Rescues, or Challenging Bum Deals?

Many troubled banks are pleading with investors to sell trust-preferred securities back to them at a discount, warning they may fail otherwise. But a small group of investors are calling the banks' requests a bluff.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) appointed Armando Falcon as Senior Policy Advisor.

Ambac Financial Group said that it has commuted all of its remaining $16.4 billion of exposure to CDOs of ABS.

Oracle Capital, a hedge fund start-up founded by two former Lehman Brothers traders, has selected Quantifi XL for the pricing and analysis of their structured credit portfolio.

European and U.S. industry groups voiced their concerns over a proposed increase in ABS and CDO post-trade transparency disclosures in a joint letter to the Committee on European Securities Regulators (CESR).