Emerging markets

Opportunities in the structured finance practice were among the motivators for Hogan Lovells to open an office in Rio de Janeiro, according to Emil Arca, a partner at the firm.

As securitization players seek out new collateral, their relationship with the government has lurched between friend and foe.

New regulations in Brazil are steering small and medium-sized bank originators toward building more, and bigger, mezzanine tranches into their securitizations, typically done through the receivable investment-fund (FIDC) vehicle.

Steep spreads in the Eurobond market may provide incentives for Turkish banks to issue deals backed by diversified payment rights (DPRs) this year, said Standard & Poor's in a text box accompanying a video presentation on Turkish DPRs.

While the redenomination specter haunts the more financially fragile members of the eurozone, Kazakhstan has actually gone through the exercise, sparking deep losses in a local RMBS, according to a note by Moody’s Investors Service.

Brazilian Securities, an agency that specializes in securitizing real estate receivables, is currently in the process of selling two mortgage-backed real estate certificates, or CRIs, with a minimum ticket size of R$1,000 ($582), according to a source close to the deal.

The International Finance Corp. expects to fund a landmark $65 million deal with Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon (CBC) in early March, said an official at the multilateral.

In January, Fitch Ratings put out a report that highlighted ratings volatility in securitizations that are retained by European originators, primarily to use as collateral for funding with the European Central Bank (ECB).

Pillsbury has hired Anthony Schouten and Jeffrey Stern for its finance group as partners in New York.

Greenberg Traurig hired Juan Manuel Gonzalez Bernal as a shareholder in its newly established office in Mexico City.

Newtek Business Services completed the securitization and sale of an added $20.5 million of non-guaranteed portions of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and said the forecast looks good for small business ABS in 2012.

Structured finance players in Latin America pushed through 2011 with few scars, especially given the turmoil pounding European markets.

In the emerging markets at the edges of Europe, 2011 did not generate much excitement for global structured finance players; many of the deals that did go cross-border were purchased by multilateral banks. This is understandable given the crisis engulfing their neighbors.

BTG Pactual, through its retail banking unit Banco PanAmericano, signed a non-binding agreement to acquire Brazilian Finance & Real Estate (BFRE), which specializes in property and real estate securitization.

Welspun Energy , India's biggest solar photovoltaic developer, which is backed by Apollo Global Management, is looking to securitize revenue from its 15-megawatt unit in Gujurat after three months of operation.

New Zealand law firm Russell McVeagh has announced four new partners in its Auckland and Wellington offices.

SA Home Homes Loans (SAHL) is refinancing its Thekwini Fund 6 RMBS via a new ZAR800 million ($99.7 million) deal that will be backed by prime mortgage loans secured on residential properties in South Africa.

Volkswagen is readying its first auto loan ABS backed by Japanese loans from its Driver program, according to a Reuters report.

As the European sovereign crisis and uncertainty in the U.S. housing market play havoc with the prices of securitizable assets, appraising risk seems as easy for investors as threading a needle while riding a rollercoaster.

Russian middle-tier bank Vozrozhdenie is in the local market with a ruble-denominated RMBS, the first time the issuer has tapped this market. Rated 'Ba3' by Moody's Investors Service, the bank itself is not controlled by the government, making it an anomaly in the current environment.