Securitization

Moody's Investors Service assigned ratings to the cash securitization of auto loans issued by Spanish bank Santander.

CIT Group announced a package of refinancings and asset sales on Thursday, a step that CEO John Thain billed as a sign of its more stable footing.

While passing a bill that would create a consumer protection agency has proved challenging enough, that task may pale in comparison to actually setting up the new regulator.

Sen. Maria Cantwell announced late Thursday that she intends to support regulatory reform, giving a boost to the bill's prospects in the Senate, which plans to take up the legislation later this month when Congress returns from a Fourth of July recess.

The CRE Finance Council filed a comment letter with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) responding to the government agency's proposed Safe Harbor rule.

The delinquency rate for commercial real estate loans backing CMBS deals showed signs of moderating in June, according to the latest report from Trepp.

For 1H10, public ABS issuance reached $26.41 billion, according to the updated numbers from the ASR Scorecards database. This figure dropped from $50.7 billion for 1H09.

The ASR Scorecards database has ranked law firms based on the securitized deals they served as legal advisors on in the first half of 2010.

Sallie Mae will be moving its corporate headquarters from Reston, Va. to Delaware.

The payments that cigarette manufacturers make to the states are dwindling as people smoke less, posing the latest setback to tobacco bonds — a sector that’s enjoyed little good news since the financial crisis.

Fortress Investment Group, New York, has agreed to acquire CW Financial Services, a servicer, special servicer and originator of commercial and multifamily real estate loans, from majority shareholder Otera U.S. Holding.

London-based fixed-income specialist BlueBay Asset Management has lost the cohead of its distressed debt funds, according to a report in the Financial Times.

In a response letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the American Securitization Forum (ASF) expressed its concern that current FDIC Safe Harbor proposals could threaten investor certainty in the securities that they own.

U.S. credit card ABS performance remains stable as late-stage delinquencies continue to improve.

As the hunt for yield sends investors looking further down the credit curve in CMBS and RMBS land, market sources said that another good place to look might be in esoteric asset classes.

Dealer floorplan ABS losses currently remain low, with performance metrics within range of historical levels. U.S. dealer networks have been exhibiting some stability and improvement in certain areas since the middle of last year. With the U.S. economy and auto industry stabilizing, automobile sales have picked up, all contributing to higher dealer profits as dealership costs declined, a notable change from the tremendous stress that dealerships were feeling in 2008 and the first half of 2009.

After experiencing a barrage of criticism for their tardy downgrades, the top three ratings agencies are seeking to regain credibility by tailoring their research efforts to better meet the needs of investors.

The defining characteristic of the economic downturn of the last few years has been the collapse in real estate prices from their 2006 peak. The losses have impacted the economy in a variety of ways. Aside from devaluing many families' single largest asset, declining home prices removed the equity extraction that had been juicing consumption for years. The housing crash has also impacted the labor markets by both destroying many high-paying jobs in the construction trades and impairing the mobility of workers saddled with negative equity.

Although covered bonds and ABS are starting to be regarded as alternatives to one another, market experts said that these two markets could definitely co-exist. For one, these products have very different sets of buyers. The two also have varying liquidity and structural advantages and constraints.

The old adage of one man's junk is another's treasure could be the best way to describe the situation that is creating a schism in CMBS land today.