RMBS

Moody’s Investors Services' downgrade of twelve U.K. financial institutions could indirectly support U.K. RMBS, according to Deutsche Bank analysts.

The Royal Bank of Scotland priced its £3.6 billion ($5.5 billion) U.K. RMBS transaction called Arran Residential Mortgages Funding 2011-2 plc, which issued tranches denominated in dollars, euro and British pounds.

An enhanced version of the ratings rule 17g-5 would provide additional benefits that would reduce both issuer conflict of interest and the concept of ratings shopping.

October set off to a promising start for the European securitization market with the launch of U.K. Building Society, Nationwide's RMBS deal from its Silverstone Master Trusts.

Investors have recently focused on the difficulties encountered by the European banks, which hold huge amounts of troubled sovereign debt. However, I am quite worried over the state of the banking system in the United States. The recent changes to monetary policy by the Fed, the attempt by state attorneys general to coerce an onerous settlement over flawed servicing practices, and a continued litigation feeding frenzy have put the domestic banking system at risk. Whatever the legitimate grievances, the desire to both punish the banks and obtain reparations for past practices risks pushing the financial system into a new and immensely damaging crisis.

Esoteric or nontraditional assets are gaining momentum to claim a bigger piece of the ABS market.

U.S. structured finance players are exploring new frontiers. With ABS issuance volume not as robust as it once was, yield-hungry investors have turned to esoteric assets.

The Dodd-Frank Act's call for the creation a self-regulatory organization (SRO) or other entity to assign new ratings was mostly panned by structured-finance industry participants, but relying on existing Rule 17g-5 - the industry's preferred alternative - may have a fatal flaw.

The adage "Where there's smoke there's usually fire" probably explains the concerns about regulators' queries into whether REITs still warrant an exclusion permitting them to use significant leverage in their business models. The issue is especially relevant since REITs are primary buyers of agency RMBS and many view them as the likeliest buyers of private-label RMBS when that market's health returns .