Securitization

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) will today publish its final report and feedback statement on the transparency of corporate bond, structured finance product and credit derivatives markets.

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted to continue with its program of asset purchases totalling £125 billion ($202 billion) financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.

When the average person hears the words deep discount, a smile is likely to appear. But when a CLO manager hears those words, it can cause them to shiver. That’s because so-called deep-discounted loan substitutions are a huge problem for CLO managers, though some firms and industry organizations have been working to change that by raising awareness on the issue. And they now say they are making progress.

New York-based Primus Asset Management has acquired CypressTree Investment Management, a Boston-based investment management firm focused leveraged loans and high yield bonds.

Morrison & Foerster hired Jerry Marlatt to the firm’s capital markets group. Marlatt is a recognized securitization lawyer and one of the leading experts in covered bonds.

Releasing its first five-year strategic plan, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Thursday that the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "represents a serious challenge to the agency," but gave no outline for how the government-sponsored enterprises might be resolved.

New York-based investment management firm Fir Tree closed Fir Tree Mortgage Opportunity Fund (“MOF”), a limited term opportunity fund that totals around $400 million in capital and commitments.

The Information Management Network's 15th Annual ABS East conference has been moved to Oct. 25 to Oct. 27.

Details of the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) still leave a number of questions unanswered.

Credit Agricole S.A. and Societe Generale signed a final agreement today to combine their asset management operations, according to a press release.

Morgan Stanley plans to repackage a downgraded collateralized debt obligation backed by leveraged loans into new securities with AAA ratings.

The Joint Economic Committee, headed by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, held a hearing on commercial real estate challenges called Commercial Real Estate: Do Rising Defaults Pose Systematic Threat?

BTIG continues to expand its fixed-income group, adding four to its sales and analyst teams, the firm said today.

Fitch Ratings has today updated its originator review criteria for European RMBS deals to acknowledge the key role that originators play in influencing the performance of residential mortgage portfolios.

Mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped 12 basis points to 5.20% with an average 0.7 point, and in the past two weeks is down 22 basis points.

Grant & Eisenhofer filed a lawsuit this week against Highland Capital and two of its hedge funds on behalf of institutional and individual investors, according to a Grant & Eisenhofer release.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, in a joint statement with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), announced today the launch of the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), which is part of the government’s Legacy Securities Program.

Investment grade European CLO tranches will not suffer losses, according to Fitch Ratings, which is true if the agency’s average default and base case recovery assumptions occur.

Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor has reorganized existing businesses to create a capital markets group, according to a release from the firm.

Fiserv Inc. is updating its Loan Servicing Platform to make it more fully compatible with recent guidelines from the U.S. Treasury Department on home loan modifications.