Dave Knell, former head of Asian asset securitization at Banque Paribas in Hong Kong, has recently joined Deutsche Bank as a director of securitization in Hong Kong.
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, has mandated its Shanghai branch to carry out a feasibility study on residential mortgage securitization, according to local press reports. Results of the study are expected to lay the groundwork for a domestic secondary mortgage market, allowing banks to sell their mortgages to government agencies and investment banks that will repackage them into mortgage-backed securities.
Northern Rock, the U.K. mortgage bank, which earlier this year said that it would soon turn to mortgage securitization to raise money, has changed how it accounts for special deals and incentives, such as discounts. The bank will now account for incentives over the life of a deal.
The bank's executive director, Adam Applegate, said that the change is crucial for securitization.
Banca di Roma's upcoming bad loan securitization will be worth L3.098 trillion ($1.691 billion) and will be split into four tranches, according to the bank. The transaction, lead managed by Paribas, will use an Italian SPV called Trevi Finance.
Argentina's provinces are contemplating a return to the securitization market shortly. Santiago del Estero, which completed a $12 million international private placement last August, still has some $40 million to issue from its $120 million program set up by Wasserstein Parella (ASRI 9/17/98, p.13). Despite difficult market conditions, other provinces may also be considering securitization again, sources said.
Morgan Stanley has replaced Bear Stearns as the manager of a securitized bond to finance the construction of a commuter rail line in the Mexican province of Guanajuato (ASRI 1/25/99, p.3), a source familiar with the deal said.
The roughly $500 million to $600 million deal will be backed by expected revenues from commuter fares and will be the first such asset-backed deal to be financed without any government guarantees or subsidies.
The deal will, however, include a guarantee of another sort: double-A rated Centre Solutions will be wrapping the transaction.
