ABS

Fresh off securing $31 billion in financing from a syndicate led by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, SLM Corp. walked into a tough week. On a corporate level, the company's counterparty credit rating was downgraded, and it remained on watch with negative implications. It was also hit with a class-action suit.

Last week New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine published his Financial Restructuring and Debt Reduction Proposal, which would use structured finance techniques to issue up to $37.6 billion to pay down half of the state's $32 billion debt and fund future transportation projects.

At the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) conference held in Las Vegas last week, many of the industry panels looked back at 2007 and reflected on how the market got to the state it's at right now.

Given higher oil prices, contraction in the capital markets and a downturn in the housing sector, a slowing economy appears imminent, said Robert Steel, undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, who gave the keynote speech last Tuesday at the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) annual conference in Las Vegas. Minimizing the amount of homeowner delinquencies, which could be exacerbated by a lagging economy, is HOPE NOW, Steel said, which he maintained is at the forefront in reducing the number of foreclosures in the market.

Demands for more personal responsibility on the part of the CDO investor and the portfolio manager gave the rating agencies a break from the hot seat at the ASF's annual conference in Las Vegas last week.

Blame it on the New York Giants' Super Bowl victory or a streak of luck at the blackjack tables, but panelists at last week's American Securitization Forum's annual conference in Vegas were optimistic about liquidity returning to certain parts of the ABS market, particularly the CLO space.

The industry must give priority to curbing abusive lending practices that have devastated the housing market and wreaked havoc on the securities market, Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall Krozner said in a keynote speech at last week's ASF 2008 conference held in Vegas.

Traditionally liquid triple-A products, European covered bonds have not escaped the credit market turmoil.

The U.K. is looking toward an early March implementation date for its new covered bond regime that uses a statutory framework instead of a contractual one.

An unusual deal from Russia came to light last week. The first public trade receivables ABS to be rated by Standard & Poor's, this transaction collateralizes factoring invoices that are denominated in rubles. It formally closed in December, but the parties involved apparently decided to go public with it a month later.

Thanks largely to the doldrums of the second half of the year, 07 marked a drop in issuance in those emerging markets that were 06's bright young things.

On a macroeconomic level, the Federal Reserve was expected to follow its 75 basis point reduction with another when it met last Wednesday. For the asset securitization market, however, it would take more than a rate reduction for investors and issuers to become comfortable enough to kick start the sector.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. January remittance data have finally left analysts struggling to find new ways to deliver the same old bad news.

While the House of Representatives' $146 billion fiscal stimulus package includes a plan to temporarily raise the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Senate will likely not follow suit.

Weeks after announcing poor 4Q07 earnings and massive write-downs, Merrill Lynch is making drastic cuts to its structured finance group.

Best of Times, the Worst of Times

The passing of 2007 marked a historic period in the U.S. student loan industry. An unprecedented amount of attention was directed towards student loan market participants in both federal and private programs. Business practices, underwriting, servicing and marketing practices were put under a microscope over the course of the year. As we enter the second month of 2008, education continues to be a hot topic in Congress with the presidential election fast approaching. Legislation passed in 2007 will begin to have its affects felt in 2008, with additional higher education reform proposals likely to follow.

The impact of the subprime crisis has been broad and deep on Wall Street. The consequent economic losses and personnel layoffs (which, as of this date, may be far from complete) seem to be worse than at any other time over the last 25 years - at least in so far as it has impacted the structured finance sector of the market.

As 2007 came to a close, MBS players around the world steeled themselves against subprime contagion. But Hipotecaria Total (HiTo) took a bold step forward unveiling a highly innovative, mortgage securitization vehicle in Mexico and issuing the first so-called Bonhitos on December 20. HiTo was founded barely a year earlier for the sole purpose of creating and sponsoring an efficient platform for the securitization of mortgages in Mexico.

Five months after a liquidity crisis halted trading on about one quarter of the outstanding paper in the Canadian ABCP market, banks have made several key changes that have drastically tightened spreads and opened the possibility of a global market for Canadian ABCP.