CDOs

An MBIA subsidiary and LaCrosse Financial Products have filed a lawsuit against two Merrill Lynch entities for misrepresentation and breach of contract in connection with credit default swaps tied to subprime residential mortgages.

Fitch Ratings said that the recently proposed amendments to include a credit support annex (CSA) for six Harbourmaster CLO transactions are a positive structural feature as they reduce counterparty risk within the deals.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded its ratings of 188 notes issued by 91

In a report, Fitch Ratings said that 21 newly delinquent assets led to a rise in U.S. commercial real estate loan (CREL) CDO delinquencies.

New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT), a real estate investment trust that securitizes prime residential mortgages, has invested $9 million in the Cratos CLO I, marking its first foray into alternative investments.

Maxim Group hired four fixed-income professionals for its structured credit sales and trading group.

A new €243 million ($320 million) collateralized bond obligation pool open to French regional not-for-profit hospitals began marketing last week.

Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded bond insurer Radian Asset Assurance to 'BBB-' from 'BBB+' in a move related to downgrades of parent Radian Guaranty and all other major U.S. mortgage insurers. The rating remains on negative watch.

SecondMarket launched markets for MBS, whole loans, and CDOs yesterday.

The CLO market has had dark clouds overhead since the credit storm began, and occasionally there have been downpours of liquidations and forced selling. As the storm lingers, market participants differ on their view of the forecast — some believe there will be another wave of liquidations, others believe the market will remain calm.

PF2 Securities Evaluations increased its analytical tools for CDOs to prepare for changing Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) requirements.

The ability of managers of investment grade corporate synthetic CDOs to trade has been dramatically reduced as a result of structural constraints, a lack of market liquidity and unprecedented spread widening, Fitch Ratings analysts said.

Inter-dealer broker Phoenix Partners hired emerging markets specialist Niels Nooy as European head of emerging markets.

The European Commission has taken a step toward modifying the risk weighting of complex securitization products under Basel II.

Fitch Ratings has reorganized its securitization leadership after the departure of former head of U.S. structured finance John Bonfiglio.

NewOak Capital appointed Samuel Warren as director of the firm’s RMBS structuring solutions team and to complement its RMBS and residential loans credit management capabilities.

Fitch Ratings downgraded 78 tranches (69 public ratings and nine private ratings) and affirmed 18 tranches (all public) from 38 European structured finance CDOs.

For several months now market participants have speculated whether the government would intervene in the CLO market.

At a time when a number of investment managers are selling loan portfolios to recoup whatever they can, BlueMountain Capital Management, a privately owned investment management firm, has launched the BlueMountain Corporate Loan Fund, a fund that will focus on distressed U.S. leveraged loans.

CDO shop Aladdin Capital Holdings started a film financing unit and a broker-dealer as part of an expansion effort outside of CDOs, according to a Bloomberg report.