CDOs

Citigroup has acquired the management responsibilities for four CLOs from DiMaio Ahmad Capital (DA Capital) for an undisclosed sum.

BlueMountain Capital Management (BMCM) closed on a $361 million CLO. The new vehicle, BlueMountain CLO 2011-1, is the fourth that the investment management company has brought to market, but its first since the financial crisis. The first three vehicles were issued in 2006 and 2007.

TICC Capital closed on its $225 million CLO transaction Wednesday. The senior notes of the CLO were issued by a newly formed special purpose vehicle in which a wholly-owned subsidiary of TICC owns all of the equity.

The likelihood of the bond insurers regaining their 'AAA' status when the U.S. does not hold that title anymore is very slim.

-----Original Message-----From: Siegel, GarySent: Thu 8/11/2011 11:07 AMTo: Sibayan, KarenSubject: RE: Rep. Waters Seeks SEC Probe, House Panel Hearings on S&P DowngradeThursday, August 11, 2011By Lynn Hume WASHINGTON - Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Standard & Poor's disclosed its downgrade of U.S. debt to certain financial institutions before it made the information public.In a two-page letter dated Wednesday to SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro, Waters said: "Given the historic nature of S&P's downgrade, and the tremendous market volatility experienced after that downgrade, I feel it is appropriate for the commission to conduct an investigation."She said the SEC should probe whether any institutions traded on the basis on nonpublic information about the downgrade.Waters also sent House Financial Services Committee chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., a two-page letter asking that the committee conduct a hearing or a series of hearings on "the extent to which [Standard & Poor's] downgrade was based on an objective analysis of U.S. debt dynamics versus subjective political analysis," among other things.The committee also should examine: the impact of the rating agency's using an incorrect Congressional Budget Office assumption in deciding to downgrade U.S. debt; the extent to which Standard & Poor's and its parent, McGraw-Hill Cos., have firewalls to insulate their lobbying and rating activities; as well as the implications of the rating agency's action and its historical performance, she said.In line with her request to the SEC, she asked that the committee examine whether SEC disclosed its downgrade to certain financial institutions before making it public.Waters is the ranking minority member of the House Financial Services Committee's capital markets subcommittee.Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate whether Standard & Poor's disclosed its downgrade of U.S. debt to certain financial institutions before it made the information public.In a two-page letter dated Wednesday to SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro, Waters said: "Given the historic nature of S&P's downgrade, and the tremendous market volatility experienced after that downgrade, I feel it is appropriate for the commission to conduct an investigation."She said the SEC should probe whether any institutions traded on the basis on nonpublic information about the downgrade.Waters also sent House Financial Services Committee chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., a two-page letter asking that the committee conduct a hearing or a series of hearings on "the extent to which S&P downgrade was based on an objective analysis of U.S. debt dynamics versus subjective political analysis," among other things.The committee also should examine: the impact of the rating agency's using an incorrect Congressional Budget Office assumption in deciding to downgrade U.S. debt; the extent to which S&P and its parent, McGraw-Hill Cos., have firewalls to insulate their lobbying and rating activities; as well as the implications of the rating agency's action and its historical performance, she said.In line with her request to the SEC, she asked that the committee examine whether SEC disclosed its downgrade to certain financial institutions before making it public.Waters is the ranking minority member of the House Financial Services Committee's capital markets subcommittee.

Rule 17g-5 could be enhanced to offer structured finance buyers with more transparency on the rating agency selection process, according to a comment letter Fitch Ratings is submitting to the Securities and Exchange Commission. (SEC).

The Carlyle Group said today it recently added $1 billion in new CLO assets under management.

Highland Capital Management has been appointed the manager of a $243 million CLO previously managed by CypressTree Investment Management.

GSO Capital Partners, the credit arm of private equity firm The Blackstone Group, has priced a $369 million collateralized loan obligation.

Ares Management is expanding its presence in the European CLO market.

CLOs are finding new fans from among the ranks of another kind of vehicle that invests in leveraged loans — business development companies (BDCs).

Resource Capital is putting together a CLO that may be completed in the fourth quarter.

TICC Capital, a business development company, has issued a $225 million CLO, its first, through a special purpose vehicle in which a wholly owned subsidiary owns all of the equity.

Barclays Capital promoted its head of European leveraged to cohead of EMEA leveraged finance, ASR sister publication Leveraged Finance News has confirmed.

A scholarship fund in Bingham McCutchen partner Edward Gainor’s memory has been established by the law firm at his alma mater The George Washington University (GWU) Law School. Gainor died July 22 of a heart attack.

The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) today submitted to joint regulators a 20-page comment letter explaining why managers of Open Market CLOs are not subject to the risk retention provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The debt ceiling compromise will bring some temporary relief to the securitization market, although the benefits will likely be short-lived.

At the recent American Securitization Forum (ASF) Sunset Seminar, panelists looked back at the first year of Dodd-Frank, saying regulators are still missing the bigger picture.

Europe's reenactment of last summer's sovereign debt crisis heated up as talks of a Greek debt default intensified once again this July.

Greek bailout talks intensified once again this July, a repeat in many ways of last summer's discussions. But structured finance issuance is taking it much harder this year, as Nora Colomer examines in the cover story. In July two actively marketed European securitizations were abruptly pulled when the market got too volatile. Other issuers went the retained route rather than face the risks associated with bringing new-issue deals to market.