Emerging markets

BV Financeira S.A.-Credito is in the market with BRL 2.5 billion deal ($1.42 billion) backed by Brazilian auto loans.

Covered bonds are a part of the Russian mortgage-finance market's comeback with a possible deal for 2011.

In a release Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service said that ABS loans taken out by Mexican sub-sovereigns held up well during the downturn despite a deterioration in the flows of the underlying receivables.

Russia's mortgage-finance market is sloughing off the toxic residue of the financial crisis, but the strength of the comeback is being largely conditioned by government support.

Like many other New Yorkers beaten down by an interminably hot summer, I've been praying for a change in the weather. This isn't so different from what our market's after - a shift of sorts, a new climate that invites activity. Without that, we'll stay stuck.

Hogan Lovells has added to its debt capital markets and structured finance team in the U.S. by hiring Emil Arca as a partner. Arca will be based in the New York office.

Simmons & Simmons has named Samer Eido as Middle East finance head, according to a report by legalweek.com.

Cagamas Berhad launched the Sukuk al-Amanah Li al-Istithmar (Sukuk ALIm) under its RM5 billion ($1.56 billion) Islamic commercial paper (ICP) and Islamic medium term note (IMTN) programs.

Former Senator and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez was named chairman of operations in Florida, Latin America, and the Caribbean at JPMorgan Chase, according to a report by Dow Jones.

Fondo de Vivienda del ISSSTE, the Mexican entity responsible for granting housing loans to state service workers, is in the market with an RMBS worth 1.35 million UDIs (inflation-indexed units) ($462 million).

Jefferies has added two professionals to its fixed income emerging markets sales and trading efforts in Asia, the firm announced today.

One of the recurring themes at the SiLAS 2010 conference was the need for investors to get to know the collateral behind deals like never before.

The enthusiasm for covered bonds in Latin America was palpable at SiLAS 2010, but challenges, both big and small, still remain for the birth of this product in the major markets of the region.

On the sidelines of the SiLAS 2010, ASR's Felipe Ossa had a conversation with Ignacio Farias, CEO of Patrimonio, a housing finance company in Mexico. Belonging to the group of recently beleaguredbeleaguered nonbank entities known as Sofols, Patrimonio has seen its mortgage originations fall by half so far this year, and that was from an already dismal 2009.

The SiLAS 2010 conference featured lively discussion of the role of trustees in Latin American transactions. In Mexico, especially, it almost seemed as if trustees were out to lunch while flows were diverted from Metrofinanciera's bridge loans deals, which inevitably led to distress.

The current crisis has drawn into sharp focus concerns that structural features in some securitization transactions may need to be re-assessed to ensure they are adequate in mitigating the impact arising from possible failures of servicers or other transaction parties. Moody's believes that the performance of a securitization transaction depends not only on the underlying collateral performance but also on the effective performance by such transaction parties of their responsibilities. Our November 2009 publication on this topic, Operational Risks in Securitizations to be Revisited, cites several occurrences where nonperformance of a transaction party may have detrimental effects on a transaction's performance regardless of the underlying pool's performance. We refer to this risk as "operational risk,"

When the European Central Bank (ECB) unveiled its €750 billion ($952 billion) bailout package to help stabilize the euro against the U.S. dollar, it addressed the crisis of confi dence created by fears of contagion over Greece’s sovereign risk.

ABS players are closely monitoring the Greek government's struggles and assessing how they'll impact European securitizations.

Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted a temporary exemption from Rule 17g-5(a)(3) for credit ratings provided to most ABS, MBS and other structured finance securities of non-U.S. issuers. This reprieve expires on Dec. 2 and extends from June 2, which is the rule's effective date for domestic firms.

April was not our market's finest moment. It may have been Goldman executives who were in the hot seat, but at times it was as if, yet again, securitization were on trial.