CDOs

U.S. structured finance players are exploring new frontiers. With ABS issuance volume not as robust as it once was, yield-hungry investors have turned to esoteric assets.

The Dodd-Frank Act's call for the creation a self-regulatory organization (SRO) or other entity to assign new ratings was mostly panned by structured-finance industry participants, but relying on existing Rule 17g-5 - the industry's preferred alternative - may have a fatal flaw.

INTRODUCTION

In a memorandum and order filed today, U.S. sourthern district of New York court judge Barbara Jones granted Morgan Stanley's motion to dismiss Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands' class action suit against the bank.

DoubleLine Capital's the DoubleLine Funds Trust launched the DoubleLine Low Duration Bond Fund.

Babson Capital Management has closed a $500 million CLO, its first since the financial crisis, the Springfield, Mass.-based firm said today.

Standard & Poor's placed Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Re on negative CreditWatch for significant concentration risk in its insured portfolio.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged RBC Capital Markets for misconduct in the sale of "unsuitable investments" to five Wisconsin school districts.

The McGraw-Hill Cos. today filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that acknowledged that on Sept. 22, it received a "Wells Notice" from the Commission Staff.

Closing in on the one-year anniversary of its bankruptcy filing, Ambac Financial Group has filed a new reorganization plan that all parties involved have agreed on.

Citigroup has priced a $352 million CLO for Apidos Capital Management, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

Nomura Holdings has hired two executives for its leveraged finance group, a source familiar with the situation confirmed. The additions come in the wake of several high profile departures from the Japanese bank.

Dock Street Capital Management is acting as liquidiation agent for the deal called Rockville CDO I. There will be two separate sales to be held on Sept. 27.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today voted (4-0 today) unanimously to propose a rule intended to prohibit certain material conflicts of interest between ABS sellers and investors.

RBS Securities (RBS) hired Tom Majewski to join RBS's global banking and markets division in the Americas as a managing director in its ABS finance coverage and advisory team.

Citigroup is seeking to gain control of more than $2 billion of CLOs, apparently in order to liquidate them and unwind related trades.

ASR just launched a weekly video news update to give our readers a quick rundown of breaking news throughout the week.

A verdict in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday has conjured up a shared happy ending between DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach and his former employer The TCW Group after more than two years of legal wrangling.

Lawyers for Barclays Capital last week told a federal court fraud claims regarding a failed CDO it sold to Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union, the biggest ever credit union failure, are barred by the statute of limitations on such securities suits and should be dismissed.

MBIA has had strokes of luck lately, with the most recent positive developments coming from lawsuits filed against the company.