ABS

UBS said today that it has closed on the sale of roughly $15 billion of primarily subprime and Alt-A U.S. RMBS to a newly created distressed asset fund that will be managed by BlackRock.

Fitch Ratings has placed the residential servicer ratings for Residential Capital (ResCap) on rating watch negative.

HBOS launched the first U.K. RMBS issue since the credit crisis erupted last summer.

CIFG Holding, the holding company for CIFG’s financial guaranty subsidiaries, responded to today's negative rating action by Moody’s Investors Service’s on the its credit ratings.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the insurance financial strength ratings of CIFG Guaranty, CIFG Europe, and CIFG Assurance North America, collectively known as CIFG, to 'Ba2' from 'A1'. The rating agency kept the ratings under review with direction uncertain.

Moody's Investors Service's U.K. credit card indices are starting to show signs of potential deterioration, according to a release from the rating agency. The aggregate index delinquency rate increased for the third consecutive

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) today issued operational guidelines that assist mortgage loan servicers and counseling organizations in implementing procedures for reimbursing expenses that are associated with the provision of

Annaly Capital Management announced today that Kevin Riordan, previously commercial mortgage securities group managing director at TIAA-CREF, has joined the company.

Markit announced a new freely available licence for the Markit Reference Entity Database (RED), which is aimed at smaller buy-side firms.

J.G. Wentworth today announced that it has completed a $117 million securitization backed by structured settlement and annuity notes. This is the specialty finance firm's 18th securitization since 1997.

Fredrick Fellows, the former head of structured finance at Southwest Securities, announced the launch of a commercial real estate debt securities firm called Basalt Capital.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC), the primary subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corp., announced the promotion of Carla Gallas to senior vice president, claims. In her new position, Gallas will focus on MGIC's loss mitigation efforts and maximizing its efficiency in claim operations. Gallas has been with MGIC for 24 years and has held different positions in sales and underwriting, most recently serving as vice president, field operations.

With the field of active bond insurers having thinned out and credit spreads still blown out, leading Turkish banks have yet to revive their structured finance programs.

While private securitization markets in Europe have virtually shriveled up, banks and other issuers can still turn to a rich uncle: central banks will accept their RMBS paper as collateral for repo financing.

In the current market, making the case for any asset class would be hard. However, the appetite for insurance-linked deals is growing and the market could see a volume increase over the next year, analysts said. To be certain, the potential for this market segment has been long recognized and analysts said that the current market environment might just be the right time to get the ball rolling.

Two new CLO deals were marketed in Europe last week, and one deal closed on the public market. However, market sources said that the activity of the past weeks still doesn't offer a definitive direction as to where pricing will settle.

It appears that rating agencies have listened and learned from investor gripes about the ratings process's opacity.

Last week Judge Colin Campbell, who is overseeing the $32 billion restructuring plan for Canada's nonbank ABCP, said that he will decide quickly on whether he will approve the plan or not. This is a ray of hope for a market that has been frozen since the liquidity crisis started last year.

Babson Capital Management is currently marketing its fourth CLO-related transaction since the beginning of the year, adding to the 50 plus CDOs it currently oversees. But some investors are wondering where the commitments are coming from, given the CLO sector's relatively limited investor base.

Moody's Investors Service last Tuesday said the ratings for the bond insurers could be significantly affected by their exposure to second-lien RMBS losses, which are higher than the rating agency expected.