CDOs

A sharp pick up in the issuance of CLOs this year hasn't resulted in much reshuffling in the ranks of credits held by these deals. In fact, there was no movement in the top five names between the first and second quarters.

"Industry consolidation outweighs new issuance as the key driver for shifts in the manager rankings, in the U.S. and Europe," Moody's analysts wrote in the newly released July edition of "CLO Interest," which includes CLO manager league tables as of June 30, 2012, updated for the first time since August 2011.

As the New York Federal Reserve moves closer to completing the winding down of its Maiden Lane (ML) vehicles, investors face a falloff in inventory volumes. This poses a further challenge in this yield-starved environment.

Scheduled to launch later this year, the European DataWarehouse will, for the first time, house loan-level data on a wide range of loans backing the region's ABS. The European Central Bank is the information repository's biggest client and champion.

Marathon Asset Management has appointed investment services provider BNY Mellon as trustee, collateral administrator, paying agent and calculation agent for its $356 million CLO.

Franklin Templeton Investments launched a new global bond fund that will focus on global debt, including emerging markets, a firm spokesman confirmed.

The standardization of future CLOs' defined terms and structural features can hasten the sector's primary issuance process, Fitch Ratings said in a note released this morning.

Oak Hill Advisors said it held the final closing of its European distressed debt and restructuring fund, hitting its cap of $1.35 billion.

A regulator will allow bond insurer MBIA to make a payment on surplus notes issued in 2008, the company said.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is planning on selling more assets from 20 CDOs forming part of its Maiden Lane III (ML III) portfolio. Offering circulars were released today.

McDermott Will & Emery has hired structured finance attorney Perry Sayles to its New York office as a partner in its financial institutions advisory practice group.

Despite first-half CLO volume that bested 2011’s total and put issuance well beyond the midway point of even optimistic projections for this year, CLO market participants remain somewhat cautious about how many more deals the market can absorb in the second half.

Issuance of European CLOs may be stalled, but 3i Debt Management believes that once the macro-economic picture improves, these structured finance vehicles will resume their role as important players in the region's loan market. That was part of the rationale for the London-based firm's recent acquisition of seven European CLOs from U.S. money manager Invesco.

Securitization market executives may want to reconsider their summer vacation plans. Not only are significant rules stemming from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act likely to be issued soon, but an earlier proposal amending Regulation AB, which had been put on the backburner, may be finalized over the next few months.

ABCP looms large among the victims of Moody's bank downgrades on June 21. Some of these banks support ABCP conduits, which, in turn, saw their ratings drop. And in ABCP land, that single grade difference can make or break a conduit. It's because money market funds - ABCP's biggest investors - can only buy 'P-1' paper.

CLO volume this year has been a bright spot for leveraged loans, with nearly $18 billion in funds launching so far, according to Royal Bank of Scotland analysts.

Credit Suisse and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities are raising a $413.4 million collateralized loan obligation for Prudential Investment Management, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is selling assets from 11 CDOs forming part of its Maiden Lane III (ML III) portfolio. Offering circulars were released yesterday.