Finance

Defaults have been milder than expected thanks to government relief and stricter underwriting. But with the crisis dragging on and policymakers unable to agree on a stimulus plan, loans to highly indebted companies remain at risk.

For investors seeking rich yields, mortgage-insurance provider Radian Guaranty is approaching the market with a $488 million transaction that is offering greater credit enhancement than a similarly structured deal earlier this year, pre-pandemic.

As the ongoing pandemic raises major questions over the fate of commercial real estate, the Benchmark 2020-B20 Mortgage Trust deal approaching the market has as a significantly higher concentration of office properties.

The performance of U.S. credit card securitizations is continuing to improve, according to Fitch Ratings, but the asset class's ongoing health will depend significantly on what emerges from political squabbles in Washington, D.C.

IPFS Corp. is approaching the asset-backed securities market with its seventh deal in 2020 backed by a revolving pool of insurance premium finance loans, an asset class posing relatively little risk to investors, at least for now.

Navient Solutions has approached the market with $780 million securitization of Federal Family Education Loan Program loans, following a similarly structured transaction completed in early August. In a report published Oct. 12, Moody's Investors Service highlighted the elevated risk to those assets during the current pandemic.

The recent decrease in the rate at which current loans became impaired could further encourage the cautious return of the non-QM market currently underway.

Investors continued to tap the COVID-19-driven emergency facility for SBA loan pool purchases, secondary CMBS notes, and private SLABS.

Just 45% of U.S. consumers plan to go to a shopping mall this season, down from 64% who visited last November and December, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers survey released Friday.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Oct. 2-8

Prestige's new $377M securitization has a collateral pool in which over 44% of the loans are from borrowers with recent Chapter 7/13 discharges.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

The 1,400-store chicken wings chain, which has benefited from carry-out dining trends during the pandemic, will sponsor its second whole-business securitization since 2018.

A New York-state proposal to shift trillions of dollars in securities contracts from Libor- to SOFR-based benchmarks is gathering dust. That worries bankers and investors on on how to proceed with the next steps toward a replacement rate as Libor's post-2021 expiration grows nearer.

The deal consists of 11,673 nonconforming first-lien mortgages, of which nearly all have been previously modified. Approximately 7% are in COVID-19-related forbearance.

Money managers bargained away legal rights in exchange for higher returns in an ultra-low interest rate environment. Now they find themselves with precious little protection for their investments just as the pandemic is causing a wave of corporate bankruptcies across the country.

The ratings agency reported that the average percentage share of triple-C rated loans in CLO portfolios fell below 10% for the first time since March.

The notes are backed by $456.9 million in high-balance loans that meet qualified mortgage standards, according to ratings agency presale reports.

Kroll's $2 million settlement with the SEC over failing to adhere to credit-rating standards for CMBS and CLO bonds are fueling concerns that rosy credit grades are masking deeper structural problems with the securities exposed by COVID-19 related stresses, say critics.

The quarterly numbers were boosted by $11.3 billion in new deals last month, the most active month for CLOs since April 2019.