CDOs

Conversation surrounding the U.S. loan credit default swap index (LCDX) was buzzing last week as both investors and traders at The Loan Syndications and Trading Association's Loan Only Credit Default Swaps conference in New York on Wednesday, geared up for the index's May 22 launch. And despite initial skepticism about the product's success, market players were optimistic about its acceptance.

Fitch Ratings last week issued its first presale report for subprime RMBS. The rating agency plans to issue the reports for subprime deals initially, and may eventually draw them up for Alt-A and prime deals, said Glenn Costello, managing director and co-head of RMBS at Fitch.

Cigarette consumption in the U.S. is declining, according to industry statistics, which suggests a shortfall in available revenue to secure tobacco ABS deals. As Louisiana and Virginia prepare to issue their own tobacco settlement bonds, however, securitization professionals say there is still plenty of room for growth in the unique asset class.

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues JP Morgan Securities 8,539.2 1 33.9 10 Wachovia Securities 8,416.4 2 33.4 8 Banc of America Securities 6,110.7 3 24.3 5 ABN AMRO 5,149.8 4 20.5 4 Barclays Capital 4,837.2 5 19.2 4 Deutsche Bank Securities 3,706.9 6 14.7 3 Credit Suisse 3,631.1 7 14.4 3 RBS Greenwich Capital 3,561.5 8 14.2 3 HSBC Securities 2,058.0 9 8.2 2 Citigroup Global Markets 2,055.1 10 8.2 3 Industry Total 25,162.7 - 100.0 27 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues Merrill Lynch 26,501.4 1 20.1 30 Citigroup Global Markets 14,489.4 2 11.0 23 JPMorgan Securities 10,756.0 3 8.2 19 Wachovia Securities 9,636.8 4 7.3 17 Morgan Stanley 9,493.8 5 7.2 38 UBS 8,134.0 6 6.2 14 Barclays Capital 8,133.7 7 6.2 10 Banc of America Securities 7,166.7 8 5.4 8 Bear Stearns 6,767.9 9 5.1 13 Deutsche Bank Securities 6,546.6 10 5.0 15 Industry Total 131,865.7 - 100.0 233 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues JPMorgan Securities 10,405.0 1 26.8 17 Banc of America Securities 9,415.0 2 24.3 16 Citigroup Global Markets 7,500.0 3 19.3 9 Morgan Stanley 5,252.6 4 13.5 6 Credit Suisse Securities 2,842.6 5 7.3 4 Deutsche Bank Securities 2,575.0 6 6.6 8 Barclays Capital 2,350.0 7 6.1 4 ABN AMRO 2,242.6 8 5.8 2 RBS Greenwich Capital 2,075.0 9 5.3 6 Wachovia Securities 2,025.0 10 5.2 4 Industry Total 38,815.3 - 100.0 58 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues Countrywide Securities 20,686.4 1 14.0 20 RBS Greenwich Capital 18,881.3 2 12.8 24 Merrill Lynch 16,905.5 3 11.4 17 Morgan Stanley 14,377.0 4 9.7 15 Banc of America Securities 13,319.4 5 9.0 18 Lehman Brothers 12,783.9 6 8.6 15 Citigroup Global Markets 12,302.7 7 8.3 14 Bear Stearns 11,872.1 8 8.0 20 Deutsche Bank Securities 8,894.1 9 6.0 12 JPMorgan Securities 8,011.0 10 5.4 9 Industry Total 147,923.4 - 100.0 185 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues JPMorgan Securities 11,994.9 1 45.7 4 Banc of America Securities 11,558.4 2 44.0 4 Barclays Capital 8,836.0 3 33.7 2 Credit Suisse Securities 8,707.8 4 33.2 3 Deutsche Bank Securities 7,729.2 4 29.4 3 Morgan Stanley 6,270.3 6 23.9 2 Goldman Sachs 5,842.0 7 22.3 2 Wachovia Securities 4,806.0 8 18.3 1 Lehman Brothers 4,142.0 9 15.8 1 RBS Greenwich Capital 3,051.4 10 11.6 1 Industry Total 26,248.6 - 100.0 11 Source: Thomson Financial

auto ABS 8% credit card ABS 12% equipment ABS 1% real estate ABS 70% student loan ABS 9% trade receivables 0% utilities ABS 0%

Merrill Lynch's collateralized FX obligation (CFXO) structure is the subject of quite a bit of chatter.

A number of market players are counting on newly issued subprime mortgages to perform better than those originated six months or even three months ago, as marginal issuers are weeded out along with the type of borrowers that they sought.

The U.S. House of Representatives' approval of tighter restrictions on the preferred lender relationships between student loan providers and universities is not expected to adversely affect the securitization industry. However, market professionals are already awaiting further Congressional actions that could significantly impact the SLABS sector.

The gush of issuance from the subprime MBS sector has slowed significantly since the overall ABS market kicked off in January and it is beginning to drag down overall issuance numbers, too. No doubt, this is sobering news for the ABS industry.

U.S. rating agencies are coming under scrutiny in the public eye, as the severity of negative subprime mortgage performance - and its ultimate impact on structured finance CDOs - has renewed the attention paid to credit ratings. Some on Wall Street are privately chuckling at the triple-A ratings assigned to certain deals in recent months, and expect that it's only a matter of time before regulators turn more attention to the agencies.

Calyon New York plans to roll out its first credit arbitrage ABCP program this week, a conduit designed to support its growing asset- and mortgage-backed securities endeavors, specifically its non-multiseller ABS CDO business.

Bradford & Bingley announced that it will acquire a GBP2 billion ($3.9 billion) share of Kensington Group's prime mortgage portfolio over the next two years. The acquisitions will be made on a monthly basis, and each portfolio will comprise a blend of prime buy-to-let, self-certified and standard loans, in line with strict credit parameters, B&B spokesperson Nickie Aiken said.

Standard & Poor's announced last week it will begin requiring more credit enhancement for closed-end subprime second-lien mortgages. The rating agency joins Moody's Investors Service in its decision to do so.

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues JPMorgan Securities 7,539.2 1 33.3 9 Wachovia Securities 6,656.4 2 29.4 6 Banc of America Securities 5,350.7 3 23.6 4 ABN AMRO 5,149.8 4 22.8 4 Barclays Capital 4,837.2 5 21.4 4 Deutsche Bank Securities 3,706.9 6 16.4 3 Credit Suisse 3,631.1 7 16.0 3 RBS Greenwich Capital 3,561.5 8 15.7 3 HSBC Securities 2,058.0 9 9.1 2 Morgan Stanley 1,870.3 10 8.3 2 Industry Total 22,627.6 - 100.0 24 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues Merrill Lynch 26,501.4 1 20.4 30 Citigroup Global Markets 14,489.4 2 11.2 23 JPMorgan Securities 10,756.0 3 8.3 19 Wachovia Securities 9,636.8 4 7.4 17 Morgan Stanley 9,493.8 5 7.3 38 UBS 8,134.0 6 6.3 14 Barclays Capital 8,133.7 7 6.3 10 Banc of America Securities 6,666.7 8 5.1 7 Deutsche Bank 6,546.6 9 5.0 15 Bear Stearns 5,844.4 10 4.5 10 Industry Total 129,942.2 - 100.0 228 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues JPMorgan Securities 10,205.0 1 28.3 16 Banc of America Securities 9,415.0 2 26.1 16 Morgan Stanley 5,252.6 3 14.5 6 Citigroup Global Markets 5,000.0 4 13.8 7 Credit Suisse 2,842.6 5 7.9 4 Deutsche Bank Securities 2,575.0 6 7.1 8 Barclays Capital 2,350.0 7 6.5 4 ABN AMRO 2,242.6 8 6.2 2 RBS Greenwich Capital 2,075.0 9 5.7 6 Wachovia Securities 1,275.0 10 3.5 3 Industry Total 36,115.3 - 100.0 55 Source: Thomson Financial