© 2024 Arizent. All rights reserved.

Whispers

Buyout firm The Carlyle Group has hired Martin Glavin as an associate director from Prudential M&G. The new hire plus Louis Reynolds, who came on board last September from General Electric Co., boosts to 10 Carlyle's roster of bankers and analysts who trade leveraged credits, including CLOs.

Dominion Bond Rating Service has appointed Jerry Marriott as a senior vice president in its Toronto-based Canadian structured finance group. Marriott, who will be reporting to Assistant Group Managing Director Huston Loke, joins DBRS from BMO Nesbitt Burns' securitization and structured finance group, where he worked on a variety of ABCP and ABS deals and asset classes, including credit card receivables, rental car fleets, and floorplan financing. Before joining the securitization and structured finance group, Marriot spent a number of years in the corporate banking and Treasury functions at Bank of Montreal. Marriott received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario and his LLB from Dalhousie University.

Law firm Loeb & Loeb has hired Joseph Sverchek as a partner in its New York office. Prior to the move, he was Special Counsel at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, which he joined in 1998. Svercheck has experience representing sponsors and placement agents alike in structuring ABCP in both the U.S. and European markets. On the capital markets front, he has covered collateralized debt obligations, medium term notes, and structured investment vehicles. Among asset classes, Svercheck has worked on trade receivables, equipment leases, auto loans, tax liens, automobile leases, dealer floor plan receivables and others. "Adding Joe is another step in our continuing commitment to expand our capital markets presence," said Loeb & Loeb's Co-Chair Michael Beck.

Australia's Macquarie Bank is rumored to be in talks to buy major shareholdings in Taiwan's Chiang Kai Shek International Airport and Taipei City's public parking lots. According to local media, Macquarie - making news globally with recent acquisition activity - could pay between NT$100 billion ($3.1 billion) and NT$200 billion for CKS Airport and up to NT$20 billion for the parking lots. It is speculated the assets will then be sold into a newly-established real estate asset trust, which will then securitize revenues earned off the back of the acquisitions, presumably for refinancing purposes. CKS, located in the manufacturing center of Taoyan City in North West Taiwan, was the only airport of the 18 currently owned by the government to record a profit in 2005.

After reviewing the sector, the European Commission confirmed last week that it would not subject credit rating agencies to new legislation. The commission examined rating agencies, but felt the current voluntary code was sufficient. Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland noted that the European Union still has significant room to penalize agencies through the application of the credit quality steps in the Capital Adequacy Directive, to align risk weightings with rating scales.

Spreads for the two Four Seasons Health Care deals, PHF Securities and Tiara Securities, were expected to tighten on the back of claims that Allianz, the owner, has appointed Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to investigate refinancing options. The refinancing is likely to be based on a sale and leaseback of the group's property portfolio, and could be followed by a flotation or auction. A number of the homes owned by Allianz are tied up in securitization deals, which will likely carry a fee to have them removed and increases the likelihood of the deals' redemption.

Residential mortgage banker MortgageIt Holdings announced last Wednesday that it has cut its number of branches by half. It is also reducing staff, with both moves a response to the slowdown in the subprime lending industry. The firm cut the number of branches catering to subprime lending to three. However, the company did not reveal the exact number of staff it intends to let go as part of the announced restructuring. MortgageIt cites pressures on "gain on sale" margins and industry consolidation as factors hurting fourth quarter earnings by between 10 and 15 cents while stating that its self-originated portfolio reached roughly $4.6 billion at the end of the quarter.

Fitch Ratings' U.S. CMBS loan delinquency index dipped eight basis points on the month to 0.79%. According to Fitch, 2004 and 2005 vintages now represent 14% and 28% of the rating agency's index by balance and continue to have low delinquency rates. If these vintages were removed from the tracking universe, the delinquency index rises to 1.34%, which is equivalent to 55 basis points more than its current level. The seasoned delinquency index, which omits deals with less than one year seasoning, dipped nine basis point this month to 1.09%. Meanwhile, new Katrina-related delinquencies slowed in December to $40.3 million versus $180.5 million the previous month. However, Fitch says it remains to be seen whether these delinquencies have stabilized, which would probably be clarified later in the first quarter, the rating agency said.

Moody's KMV announced last Tuesday that it has appointed Brian Ranson, as a managing director in the newly formed credit strategies group. Ranson was most recently a senior vice president at Bank of Montreal. Ranson's appointment comes as Moody's KMV, a provider of quantitative credit risk measurement and management solutions, announced the launch of the credit strategies group and the credit risk specialists team, both of which will focus on providing thought leadership and best practices to its customers, Moody's KMV reported in a statement. Jeffrey Bohn, managing director of global research and credit strategies, will lead the credit strategies group, while other senior members will include Brian Dvorak, Martha Sellers and William Morokoff. The credit risk specialists team will be led by Managing Director David Merrill in the Americas, and managing director Gavin Style in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Last week the leaders of RBS Greenwich Capital's debt capital markets push of the past few years said they are leaving the bank to start their own hedge fund. John Walsh, head of credit markets, and Ben Cohen, his deputy, are off to start a credit-focused investment vehicle. Cohen and Walsh, formerly the global head of debt capital markets at Credit Suisse, joined the US arm of RBS in 2004.

(c) 2006 Asset Securitization Report and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.asreport.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM ASSET SECURITIZATION REPORT