Consumer ABS

Using different styles and tactics, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc. are making the same argument: policymakers have already done enough to rein in risk-taking. Doing more, particularly tacking on a capital surcharge for the largest firms, the CEOs insist, will crimp credit and in turn chill economic growth.

A sample of comments in response to the SEC's rating agency reform proposals suggests the market could find itself in a situation where the government must balance its interest in oversight and control with its plans to avoid more responsibilities and liabilities. It also may need to balance its aim to restrict conflicts of interest with another reform goal involving more sharing of information and transparency.

An enhanced version of the ratings rule 17g-5 would provide additional benefits that would reduce both issuer conflict of interest and the concept of ratings shopping.

Consumer bankruptcies across the country plunged 17% year-on-year in September, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). The total for the month reached 108,517. The drop for the first nine months of the year from the same period in 2010 was 10%.

HSBC Holdings PLC is planning to sell GBP348 million ($500mn) of bonds backed by U.K. credit card receivables from its Turquoise Credit Card program, according to a Moody's Investor Service presale report.

U.S. structured finance players are exploring new frontiers. With ABS issuance volume not as robust as it once was, yield-hungry investors have turned to esoteric assets.

The Dodd-Frank Act's call for the creation a self-regulatory organization (SRO) or other entity to assign new ratings was mostly panned by structured-finance industry participants, but relying on existing Rule 17g-5 - the industry's preferred alternative - may have a fatal flaw.

According to figures as of Sept. 29 from the ASR Scorecards database, $55.96 billion in public ABS was issued year-to-date in 2011.

The issue of whether Greece will or will not default has yet to be put to rest. However, the securitization market proved its resiliency in the face of uncertainty as it opened up primary flow last month with a small bang.