Moody's Investors Service said last week that the earthquake that struck northern Japan on May 26, while registering a 7.0 on the Richter scale, had limited impact on Japanese securitizations.
The epicenter of the quake was offshore of the Miyagi Prefecture, located in Northeast Japan. Moody's stated that while some minor incidents were reported, it had received no reports of serious damage. The rating agency monitors 12 CMBS and NPL securitizations, including private deals, with underlying real estate assets in the five prefectures of Japan's northeastern Tohoku region - Miyagi, Iwate, Yamagata, Akita and Aomori.
"We have so far received no reports of casualties for obligors who are members of underlying pools or of direct damage to the servicer's headquarters or branches," said Tetsuji Takenouchi, vice president, structured finance group for Moody's Japan K.K.
Following the earthquake, Moody's structured finance monitoring team surveyed the deals with exposures to Tohoku. They reported a prompt response from servicers, securities firms and related parties. The monitoring team is responsible for roughly 450 transactions.
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