Banking

For investment firms that profit by buying the debt of troubled companies, it looked like the opportunity of a lifetime: a $1 trillion pile of distressed bonds and loans in the Americas alone as the pandemic sent markets into meltdown last March.

The leveraged loan market has long been the favored financing source for private equity firms looking to juice returns on corporate takeovers and to reward themselves with payouts before selling their acquisitions.

However, the number of borrowers who failed to remit payment but were not yet 30 days overdue increased.

Kovensky, whose departure from the posts is effective April 1, will stay on as a board member at the $17 billion credit management division of Onex Corp. Co-CEO Jason New will become head of credit as part of the transition, while Peter Zaltz will become chief investment officer.

Yellen announced she has revived a hedge fund working group so agencies can “share data, identify risks and work to strengthen our financial system."

The Spanish bank is broadening its lending to speculative-rated borrowers from its traditional focus on high-grade debt, Noya said in an interview. It’s been building a team to get more high-yield mandates in Europe and the U.S.

A recent statement by acting Director Dave Uejio is the clearest signal that the agency plans to revive strong underwriting standards that the Trump administration eliminated.

Don Mullen, founder and chief executive officer of Pretium Partners, says that corporate debt could underperform mortgages this year, with fewer defaults likely for real estate loans and higher recoveries for mortgage-backed instruments.

Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau jumped 54% to 542,300 in 2020. Concerns about credit reports have long outnumbered those in other categories and jumped significantly as a share of the total from 2019.

U.S. companies including Hilton and Avis are so anxious to lock in low borrowing costs now, before inflation fears push yields even higher or close the market altogether, that they’re paying millions of dollars in penalties to refinance debt early.

Two banking bills signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker carry implications for payday lenders, auto title lenders, credit unions and nonbank mortgage lenders. Pritzker, a Democrat, said the bills will address racial-equity gaps in the state.

A PIMCO-sponsored HELOC securitzation, as well as a mortgage-insurance linked transaction, are the latest examples of issuers getting a head start on switching to an expected replacement benchmark for Libor.

The $1.18 billion deal is also the first to include Tesla’s mid-range Model Y vehicle (with an MSRP of $54, 119) that makes up 36% of the securitized value of the TALT 2021-A pool, according to a presale report from Moody’s Investors Service.

UMB Financial’s success in aviation financing has boosted fee income, and the Missouri company has opened an office in Dublin — a hub for airplane sales and leases that could get busier as the airline industry restructures.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of March 12-18

Carvana will use proceeds to pay down existing debt and to fund general corporate purposes.

The strong showing has prompted managers to bring new deals at favorable terms and refinance and reset existing bonds at cheaper costs, leading market observers to predict a record year for refinancings.

CLO new-issue month-to-date volume is at $8.9 billion, keeping pace with a record $15.8 billion total from February

Unify Financial is sponsoring a $300M securitization of prime auto loans. The $3.3 billion-asset institution is only the second CU to sell securities backed by auto loans since the NCUA gave the green light for credit-union securitizations nearly four years ago.

Firms targeted include Brigade Capital Management, HPS Investment Partners, Symphony Asset Management and Bardin Hill Investment Partners, which all have a CLO business that repackages leveraged loans into bonds of differing risks, sources said.