Securitization

There is little risk of a negative impact on CMBS from the closure of 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores under the U.S. Sears Holdings Corp., according to a Fitch Ratings report.

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.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) recently hired Christopher Moroz and Michael Giasi to its fixed-income team as part of its efforts to further expand the firm's MBS capabilities, as reported on Dec 19 by StructuredFinanceNews.com (see link).

Zillow is projecting that home values across the country are expected to have gone down approximately $700 billion in 2011, which would be 35% less than the $1.1 trillion that was lost in 2010.

The $66.4 billion scheduled to mature in credit card securitization could add an extra $14 billion to credit card ABS volumes in 2012, Wells Fargo analysts said in a report released today.

Standard & Poor's late Tuesday said it is reviewing its rating criteria for U.S. RMBS backed primarily by second liens.

The serious delinquency rate on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans has risen a full percentage point over four months to 9.3% in November.

Ohio became the twentieth state to pass legislation allowing utility debt securitization.

Mercedes-Benz Financial has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue an auto lease ABS under its Mercedes-Benz Auto Lease Trust.

Investors involved in the $8.5 billion bond settlement with Bank of America Corp. are looking for the case to be moved back to state court, according to a Bloomberg report.

Credit Agricole Securities placed CAD$120 million of notes issued by Vecta I Ltd., which marks the first ABS backed by Canadian life insurance embedded value.

Carrington Holding Co. is trying to raise $1 billion from investors to purchase foreclosed single-family properties that its mortgage services unit will manage and rent.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has received the go-ahead from its regulator to begin repurchasing stock from its member banks.

Most thrift holding companies will get a two-year phase in period for following Federal Reserve Board reporting requirements while others will initially be exempted, the central bank said Friday.

House prices fell 1.2% in October after dipping 0.7% in September, according to new figures released by Standard & Poor's Tuesday morning.

There were mixed signals last week on the strength of the economy and housing in particular.

As part of an ongoing effort to refinance and reduce its debt post-bankruptcy, CIT Group, a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies, announced Dec. 22 that it will redeem an additional $2 billion of 7% Series A Second Lien Notes, including the $1.6 billion remaining balance of its Notes maturing in 2015 and approximately $400 million of its Notes maturing in 2016.

Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has one of the toughest jobs in town.

Four federal regulators on Friday announced they would give commenters an additional month to weigh in on sweeping restrictions to banks' proprietary trading vehicles.