Emerging markets

Brazilian securitization consultancy Uqbar said in a report that 2010 issuance of CRIs, the main vehicle for real estate securitization in the country, hit R$8.53 billion ($5.1 billion) last year (see chart below). This was more than double the figure for 2009.

The practice of voluntary asset buy-backs is prompting Fitch Ratings to keep several RMBS transactions in South Africa on Rating Watch Negative (RWN), the agency said in a report looking at the expected performance of the country’s structured finance sector this year.

Bank of America on Tuesday announced that Fernando Vicario is the head of corporate banking for emerging markets, excluding Asia, according to an internal memo obtained by ASR sister publication IDD Magazine on Wednesday.

New rules from Mexico’s banking regulator are an auspicious move for future securitizations from this sector, according to Maria Muller, senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service.

Australian RMBS issuer Perpetual is in the market with SMHL Securitisation Fund 2011-1 worth A$600 million.

Fitch Ratings is monitoring the potential consequences that the earthquake that hit Christchurch in February might have on outstanding Fitch-rated New Zealand mortgage-backed transactions.

The recapitalization plan of Petroleo Brasileiro, designed to fund epic growth, is on strong footing, according to a release by Moody’s Investors Service.

After waiting ten months, Redwood Trust issued a second Jumbo RMBS, injecting some optimism into the private-label mortgage securitization market.

With economic growth in Argentina having surpassed 8% last year and unemployment diminishing, it is no wonder the country's consumer ABS sector boomed in 2010. Collateral, after all, was in generous supply as more optimistic consumers made purchases on credit. This year, observers said we should expect more of the same, although the pace of economic expansion is projected to be closer to half of last year's figure. Concern about rising delinquencies is moderate for now, and there's none of the bubble anxiety beginning to infect neighboring Brazil.

BNP Paribas is sole lead on a cross-border local-currency denominated transaction that securitizes the rights to receive future payments from Peruvian state-owned water utility SEDAPAL, according to market sources. A BNP official did not return a request for comment.

After a strong 2010 in Colombian structured finance — issuance grew more than 50% from 2009 — Fitch Ratings sees reasons for a repeat performance in 2011. Placements hit $7.8 billion last year, from a variety of companies in the corporate and financial sectors. The country’s Fannie Mae-esque Titularizadora Colombiana accounted for 28% of all issuance in 2010, turning out three peso-denominated RMBS and three inflation-indexed RMBS. The withdrawal of a tax credit for RMBS buyers should cut into volumes this year, but other asset classes are primed to pick up the slack, the agency said. Titularizadora itself may be involved in some of these as the agency has set up an offshoot to securitize non-housing ABS, such as auto loans, and expects to start issuing this year. Government-backed deals to fund infrastructure are also on the horizon, Fitch said.

In Brazil, talk of a more substantial RMBS market might be a step closer to reality, as banks will be able to use a portion of their securitized portfolios to meet a regulatory requirement that has been an impediment to RMBS issuance in the country, said Fitch Ratings in a report today. Under the rule, banks must keep 65% of savings deposits in real estate-related financings. With the change, “Fitch expects some large retail banks to debut new RMBS securitization platforms in 2011.”

Most people believe the Basel III capital rules are buttoned up. International regulators worked hard, agreed in December to impose tough standards and then gave bankers eight years to meet them.

While Mexico's nonbank originators known as Sofoles are still grappling with the effects of the economic crisis, state-owned agency Infonavit continues to turn out mortgages and securitize them in steady if not growing volumes.

The Obama administration in January postponed announcing its GSE reform proposals. Experts said that the root cause of the delay is the fear of further disrupting the already fragile housing market, as Nora Colomer points out in this month's cover story.

After the near collapse of the Canadian securitization market in August 2007, 2010 saw a strong resurgence in term ABS issuance in Canada. Among other things, there were 16 public deals with combined total issuance of more than CAD$11 billion. There were also signs of renewed activity in the ABCP market with conduits taking on new deals with originators who had been largely frozen out of this market over the last few years. Overall, there is a general sense of optimism about the market and, as a result of both market forces and government action, it's fair to say that the Canadian securitization market is, if not perfectly well, at least comfortably on the road to recovery.

In late December, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) launched the Mid-size Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (MidSEFF), designed to support renewable energy and industrial energy efficiency investments.

Fitch Ratings, in a recent report, updated the “Challenge Factors” (CFs) assigned to 36 emerging market countries in 2009.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) released its detailed agenda for its ASF 2011 conference that will be held in Orlando, Florida from Feb. 6-9.

South Korean cross-border issuance of ABS will be spurred along by two developments in 2011, according to a report on structured finance in ex-Japan Asia by Moody’s Investors Service. One is the maturity of several credit-card and auto loan deals this year. The other is the arrival of potential new originators among credit card businesses freshly spun off by banks.