ABS

Bingham McCutchen and McKee Nelson have signed a letter of intent to combine on or before Aug. 1, today’s Bingham release said.

Amherst Holdings has a new Hong Kong subsidiary called Amherst International Ltd. (AIL) — marking the company’s first international venture — according to an Amherst press release.

Manager Activity: Autos Book Runner Amount (US$ Mil) Rank Mkt.

A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plan to place new restrictions on private-equity firms seeking to buy failed banks is facing strong opposition from fellow bank regulators and could temporarily freeze all private-equity activity in bank acquisitions.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) continues to work on its list of acceptable tax havens.

Q&A

This month, UniCredit launched its inaugural OBG (Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite) benchmark.

The first round of CMBS TALF saw no takers. However, the lackluster reception isn't indicative of a lack of appetite. Market sources said it's just a matter of dealing with a more complex asset class that has required more work and, consequently, will take more time to gather momentum under the Federal Reserve program.

Nascent signs of economic recovery bode well for the commercial real estate sector, which lags the economy, but the ongoing correction in the sector is not yet done.

In what is being widely viewed as a vindication of the DPR product, stressed programs originated by Kazkommertsbank and BTA Bank have fully paid down.

The package of financial regulatory reforms recently proposed by the Obama administration includes a proposal for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. According to the document, the agency would "...protect consumers across the financial sector from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices." While this proposal is likely to generate strong opposition from the financial community, the events of the past few years make some form of regulation inevitable. However, stronger regulation of the financial sector, including consumer finance, should be accomplished through the legislative process.

Navigating the mortgage debt markets can be tricky in good times, but market participants may find today's market conditions more akin to walking through a minefield.

The Obama administration unleashed its new proposal to regulate the securitization market last month.

As the dog days of summer approach, securitization market players are facing some of the biggest accounting changes in years that will require major changes in relatively short order to their balance sheets, financial disclosures and the systems to generate that information.

The Obama administration set out a white paper recommending far-reaching changes in the regulation of OTC derivatives, but the proposals did not bring anything new to the table.

Excess is what brought about this financial crisis. The only way to curb the intemperance is through increased regulation. Right or wrong? This is the question that this month's issue of ASR grapples with. It appears that the answer is not so clear cut. Various proposals from the government, ranging from accounting rules to financial reform legislation, may have the best of intentions, but they also carry with them a host of potential new problems.

Ford Mortor Credit Co. and Harley Davidson are in the market with Term ABS Loan Facility (TALF)-eligible deals.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received the green light from their regulator to refinance underwater homeowners with loan-to-value ratios as high as 125%.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has settled with Advanta Bank Corp. regarding the latter’s alleged deceptive and unfair practices that are in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act.

Increases in U.K. credit card delinquencies and charge-offs in May drove to new heights the Fitch Ratings indices tracking these performance variables.