RMBS

In a twist on the old cliche about Brazil, it seems at times that covered bonds in Latin America are the instrument of the future, and always will be.

While participants of the 2012 SiLAS conference hosted by Euromoney Seminars and LatinFinance were happy to move on from the Mexico-centric talk of previous years, more than a few players were still buzzing about the plans by Mexican originator and recurring RMBS issuer Infonavit to eventually morph into an investor. (See graph at right for projected cash flows.)

Bankers are holding out hope for a last minute 'fix' to new capital requirements that will make it much less attractive for European insurers to hold ABS. Insurance companies have become important buyers of European ABS since the financial crisis.

Greece's RMBS sector would be one of the victims of the country's exit from the eurozone, which appears increasingly likely in the run-up to June 17 elections between parties supporting and opposing austerity measures, a condition of the country's bailout.

The news of massive trading losses in JPMorgan's Chief Investment Office renewed calls for strict implementation of the Volcker Rule, the section of the Dodd-Frank Act restricting banks from proprietary trading. In my mind, the episode highlights the importance of intelligent and comprehensive risk-management procedures. While provisions such as the Volcker Rule can play a useful role, they cannot serve the desired purpose of mitigating risks to the financial system without robust risk-management standards enforced by regulators.

Originators of private student loans can't seem to catch a break. Two years ago, the federal government stopped guaranteeing these loans, leaving them unsecured; more recently, there's been a push in Congress to make student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy. The loans are also attracting scrutiny from the recently empowered Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.

Brazil's housing market boom continues to make headlines. From January 2008 through April 2012, home prices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro jumped 135% and 169%, respectively, according to the FipeZap Index, which tracks prices every month in the country's seven biggest cities.

Dealmakers, issuers and investors in Latin American structured finance are often quick to point out that they've been spared the worst brutalities of the global financial crisis and the more recent sovereign debt anxiety in Europe, with the exception of the nonbank real estate sector in Mexico.

Newly initiated foreclosures by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) jumped 247% in April from a year earlier, while the overall number of foreclosure starts fell 3.1% in the same period.

The shadow banking system is down but not out. That's the conclusion reached by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services in a new report that examines the scope and the relevance of a sector that has received its fair share of blame for causing the financial crisis.Deloitte says that assets controlled by the shadow banking system — including ABS and MBS —have declined by more than 50% in the last four years, to $9.53 trillion at Dec. 31. As a result of this sharp decline, the traditional banking sector that four years ago was smaller than the shadow banking system is now roughly $8 trillion larger, according to Deloitte.