News
The NextCard securitizations hit another round of early amortization triggers, this time prompted by three months of negative excess spread associated with the some-odd $1 billion portfolio of securitized loans. Unlike the trigger hit earlier this year, when NextBank was taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., this time the wind down is really happening. Initially, FDIC kept the deals revolving.
Italian pharmaceutical concern Comifin SpA is heard to be prepping an equipment leasing transaction in the EURO100 million range. Managers on the deal are Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Mediocredito. The deal will be backed by optical equipment.
Standard & Poor's said that the impact of additional anchor tenant bankruptcies expected in the near future on rated U.S. CMBS and REITs will remain low because of the diversification as well as the credit quality of the majority of the remaining anchor tenants. In an article entitled Minimum Impact of Bankrupt Anchor Tenants on U.S. CMBS Transactions and REITs the rating agency said that based on the current number of B-' and lower credit ratings, S&P predicts additional bankruptcies. The report stated that when an anchor tenant is in bankruptcy, S&P applies conservative underwriting assumptions, particularly relative to vacancy and retenanting costs. With retail making up $33 billion of U.S. CMBS conduit deals, the overall financial exposure due to the number of anchor tenants is large but the magnitude of anchor tenant bankruptcies has not been great.
Though Fitch Ratings downgraded WorldCom's senior unsecured ratings to double-C from single-B on June 26, an examination of CMBS deals rated by Fitch yielded negligible exposure, the rating agency said last week. Although twenty-two CMBS transactions amounting to $21.4 billion have some WorldCom exposure, the individual loan exposure to WorldCom as a tenant only totals $421 million, which equals 2% of the total transactions. Further, the WorldCom exposure in each transaction is limited to one loan. Fitch stated that the affected deals do not warrant any rating action as of yet.
People
Bjorn Flesaker, formerly of General Re Securities, has joined MBIA as a managing director in the Risk Management Division reporting to Ruth Whaley, the firm's chief risk officer. Flesaker's responsibilities include the management of MBIA's $450 billion financial guaranty portfolio and spearheading further developments in the firm's analytical tools and models. He will also oversee the market risk function for MBIA's core investment portfolio as well as for the fixed-income assets managed by MBIA Asset Management.
Ila Afsharipour recently joined Credit Suisse First Boston's short-term product group, replacing Sofia Theophilus, who left CSFB in July. Afsharipour reports to group head Maureen Coen. Prior to moving into Coen's group, Afsharipour was in the financial planning & analysis division at CSFB.
Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. hired Doug Colandrea, formerly from Morgan Stanley, as a senior managing director and head of high grade fixed income research. Colandrea will oversee Bear's coverage of high-grade credits while assuming lead coverage of the telecom, cable & media sectors. Colandrea will report to head of high grade fixed-income Kelley Millet and head of credit research Michael Hyland.
At Morgan Stanley, Colandrea covered telecom, cable & media for six years.
Nord LB is seeking to hire an assistant vice president/junior transactor to work on the bank's Hannover Funding ABCP conduit. Hannover is a hybrid vehicle with nearly $1 billion outstanding, authorized by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's to engage in the same type of transactions as a securities arbitrage, loan back, or multi-seller conduit. The new hire will report to senior vice president Omar Bolli, an ABCP veteran who previously worked at Bank of America and Citibank.
Miscellaneous
It is rumored that Forbes will feature a cover story on securitization toward the end of summer.
Calendar
August 6: Boston, Ma: Fitch Ratings will hold a Consumer ABS Seminar for ABS investors. Contact Beth Hammond at beth.hammond@fitchratings.com or call 212-908-0500 x456 to RSVP or for more information.
September 5-6: London, England: The Strategic Research Institute will present The Premier European Forum on ABCP. For more information visit www.srinstitute.com/ca273
October 6-9: Miami, FL: The Strategic Research Institute will host the The ABS South Beach Industry Summit. For more information visit www.srinstitute.com/ca280
October 9: New York, NY - The Bond Market Association presents the Annual Awards Dinner. For more information, call 212-440-9429 or email mgarcia@bondmarkets.com.
November 7-9: Palm Beach Gardens, FL - The Bond Market Association's Fixed-Income Securities Operations Conference will be held at the PGA National Resort & Spa. For more information, call 212-440-9429 or email mgarcia@bondmarkets.com.
To have your event included in this section, please fax information to 646-822-4920 or. alternatively, e-mail Colleen Corrigan at colleen.garry@tfn.com
