CMBS

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Portugal by four notches to 'Ba2' from 'Baa1' with a negative outlook yesterday.

The delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS fell in June by 23 basis points to 9.73%, its lowest level since February 2011, according to a report by Trepp.

The U.S. Congress and U.S. regulatory agencies have imposed or proposed broad-based and aggressive laws and rulemaking in response to the failure of securitizations directly or indirectly backed by U.S. subprime residential mortgage loans originated in the several years prior to the onset of the financial crisis in 2007. Notwithstanding this aggressive response, there is no empirical evidence that transactions backed by other types of assets, including asset-backed securities (ABS) of foreign issuers, have been prone to such failures or merit coverage in the same regulatory scheme as applies to securitizations backed by subprime residential mortgage loans.

From Brussels to D.C., the season of powwows is here, and ASR's editors have certainly been getting around.

Even as CMBS financing is slowly regaining form, with anticipated issuance of up to $40 billion this year, practices that contributed to the last downturn are slowly creeping back into the picture. This is a topic that was discussed at the CRE Finance Council's June convention in New York.

Regulation was a main focus at the recently concluded Global ABS 2011 conference held in Brussels in mid June. One of the issues was Solvency II, the proposed new European regulatory regime that, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service, is probably going to increase regulatory capital requirements for both European Union and European Economic Area insurers and reinsurers when it is implemented in 2013.

Tejas Securities Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Westech Capital Corp. hired Samir Shah as managing director and co-sales manager of structured products.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is marketing a CMBS deal called Bank of America Merrill Lynch Large Loan, Inc. Commercial Mortgage Passthrough Certificates Series 2011-FSHN.

UCM Partners has launched the UCM MIDAS Fund, with $10 million in assets under management.

Barclays Capital reports that June CMBS conduit liquidations hit the new high of more than 450 deals worth nearly $1.9 billion, an increase that bodes well for special servicers of these portfolios.