A Panamanian mortgage originator, La Hipotecaria, is in the market with a cross-border deal. The 29-year final, $73 million RMBS is being arranged by Descap Securities, an unfamiliar name in the arena of emerging market securitizations. XLCA is wrapping the transaction, securing it a triple-A from Standard & Poor's. The other two main rating agencies are understood to be grading the deal as well.
In a release, S&P said the transaction was the first cross-border RMBS from Panama it has rated. Hipotecaria is not a newcomer to securitization; it has issued seven deals locally. The pool is made up of 3,502 dollar loans bearing floating rates. The outstanding principal is $91 million.
Mexico ignores subprime crisis
Further north, the Mexican market is also supplying action on the mortgage front. GMAC Financiera recently issued a two-tranche RMBS for a combined 251 million inflation indexed units (UDIs) ($81 million), with a legal final of 29 years. An A tranche for 234 million UDIs priced at a real rate of 4.08%, while a B tranche sized at 16 million UDIs priced at 6.55%. Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service, and S&P rated the A piece triple-A on their respective global scales and the B piece, A(mex)'/'A1.mx'/'mxA', on their national scales, respectively. FGIC provided a wrap on the senior tranche, and Credit Suisse was the sole lead.
The A piece was 32 basis points inside the first RMBS FGIC wrapped in Mexico, a deal also for GMAC that closed last October. The B piece was also tight to the subordinated tranche of the previous deal, by five basis points, a strong indication that the subprime meltdown up north has meant nothing to the peso market.
At press time, HSBC Mexico was on the verge of pricing an RMBS amounting to Ps2.5 billion ($226 million). Genworth is providing insurance on the transaction, being touted as the largest mortgage deal ever issued in the country.
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