ABS

As the market nears the one-year anniversary of the current credit crunch, many industry participants have gotten past the initial phase of shock and have refocused their attention on learning from past mistakes.

Securitization is not going away any time soon despite the market storm that has rocked global credit markets, according to Jose Manuel Gonzalez Paramo, a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) executive board, who says the reselling of debt such as mortgage loans and credit cards is still a valid business model.

Often associated with energy and corporate lending more than housing, Russia's Gazprombank nonetheless has a sizable mortgage book ($1.9 billion), and three RMBS deals under its belt for a total RUR15.8 billion ($666 million). The issuer is also a pioneer of sorts, having been the first Russian originator to place a deal under Russian RMBS legislation in December 2006. Gazprombank's last RMBS was in June, when it closed a mixed euro/ruble deal for a total RUR6.9 billion via Barclays Capital Markets and its own arranging unit. Not surprisingly, since then public borrowing has been limited to a one-year, and a three-year, unsecured loan closed last March for a total $450 million.

Turkish banks have been quiet on the securitization front since most of the monoline bond insurers stopped wrapping structured deals.

The European securitization investor psyche can be pretty hard to access given the limited opportunities they currently have. But as the market gears for a recovery, tailoring deals to the buyers' needs is the key to their success.

Tighter credit conditions have prompted some corporations to turn to conduits where they borrow by staking their receivables as assets, according to one market participant who said the CDO market is still subdued.

The impending summer slowdown is nothing new for the CDO market, which has already seen a slow pace of issuance for almost a year now.

There was no red carpet laid out for the thousands of industry players that made it out to the Palais des Festivals et Des Congress in Cannes, the new home of Information Management Network's and European Securitization Forum's (ESF) Global ABS conference.

Dan Castro has left GSC Group for Huxley Capital Management, a start-up private equity company/hedge fund, where he will be chief risk officer. In his new position, Castro will be working alongside founders Bryan Caisse and Dr. Chris Donegan.

Emerging markets at the Global ABS conference in Cannes took up a sliver of the schedule - in three and a half days of talks, only three panels were dedicated to EM, and two of those dealt exclusively with Russia.

Last week saw another round of light ABS issuance, which, after several weeks of steady issuance, had traders increasingly certain that the summer slump has begun to take effect.

Manager Activity: AutosFull Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) closed its $1 billion securitization transaction backed by utility receivables that was managed by ABN AMRO Bank and Calyon Securities.

In one of the largest refinancings ever, GMAC said that it had completed a more than $60 billion rescue effort to improve the liquidity of its struggling subsidiary, mortgage lender Residential Capital.

Standard & Poor's today lowered its financial strength ratings on Ambac Assurance Corp. and MBIA Insurance Corp. to 'AA' from 'AAA' and placed the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.

Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and Standard & Poor’s each entered into an identical cooperation agreement today with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo with the intent of restoring confidence and credibility to the mortgage markets.

Standard Chartered Bank, headquartered in London and Singapore, launched a new branch in Paris last Thursday.

Fixed mortgage rates were virtually unchanged while ARM rates fell, according to Freddie Mac's latest Mortgage Rate Survey.

Moody’s Investors Services has placed MBIA Insurance Corp.’s 'Aaa' insurance financial strength ratings on review for possible downgrade.

The Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday to examine underwriting practices at some of the top investment banks, according to Reuters.