CDOs

Regulatory reform survived its last significant hurdle Thursday with the Senate moving to block further changes and hold a final vote on the bill.

With U.S. financial reform nearly through, eyes are turning to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which is hammering out a set of regulatory standards intended to lay the foundation for a global overhaul.

With the votes lined up, the Senate Tuesday was poised to set in motion the final countdown to a vote on financial regulatory reform.

Like a shark swimming near a crowded beach, the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill is causing a lot of anxiety for bank loan market participants, especially those who have anything to do with CLOs.

Fitch Solutions' CDS liquidity scores will now offer CDS liquidity measures at the contract level in addition to the existing entity level scores launched last year.

After experiencing a barrage of criticism for their tardy downgrades, the top three ratings agencies are seeking to regain credibility by tailoring their research efforts to better meet the needs of investors.

Despite the devastation in the wake of the global financial crisis, there are certain areas of the securitization market that present opportunities for investors.

Goldman Sachs underwrote $14.5 billion in CDOs in 2006 and took short positions against only 1% of the total, according to prepared testimony to be delivered today before the financial crisis inquiry commission.

Standard & Poor's has announced the categories of debt instruments which ratings will have a structured finance identifier.

The big three credit rating agencies have long made the disclaimer that investors should not use ratings as a substitute for independent judgment. Now regulators want banks to prove they aren't doing that.

Pillsbury has acquired a large group of finance and corporate attorneys from Nixon Peabody.

Blocking Rescues, or Challenging Bum Deals?

Many troubled banks are pleading with investors to sell trust-preferred securities back to them at a discount, warning they may fail otherwise. But a small group of investors are calling the banks' requests a bluff.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) appointed Armando Falcon as Senior Policy Advisor.

Ambac Financial Group said that it has commuted all of its remaining $16.4 billion of exposure to CDOs of ABS.

Oracle Capital, a hedge fund start-up founded by two former Lehman Brothers traders, has selected Quantifi XL for the pricing and analysis of their structured credit portfolio.

European and U.S. industry groups voiced their concerns over a proposed increase in ABS and CDO post-trade transparency disclosures in a joint letter to the Committee on European Securities Regulators (CESR).

DBRS further clarified its interpretation of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule 17g-5. The credit rating agency disclosed its planned approaches for both exempt and non-exempt structured finance (SF) instruments in light of the changes to the said ruling.

Moody's Investors Service launched a new quarterly newsletter called Structured Credit Perspectives, which was published beginning today.

Securitization Focus