Securitization

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) announced the launch of its European Covered Bond Dealers Association (ECBDA).

Moody's Investors Service just started a cross-financial sector publication called Moody’s Credit Card Statement that features articles written by the rating agency's structured finance, banking, and retail analysts.

Mission Capital Advisors is now accepting bids for a portfolio of subperforming and nonperforming commercial mortgage loans, secured by various commercial real estate and business assets in the greater Chicago Metro area and various towns in Indiana, with a balance of more than $50.3 million.

Zetabid, a firm focusing on U.S. home auctions, hired Christopher Connelly as senior managing director of Zetabid.

Collins Financial Services USA, a purchaser, collector and reseller of charged-off consumer debt, announced today that it has received debt financing from LBC Credit Partners, a mezzanine fund that provides privately negotiated loans to middle market businesses.

Morgan Keegan & Co., a Memphis unit of Regions Financial Corp., is expanding its fixed-income capital markets division beyond its traditional market in the Southeast.

CWCapital Investments (CWCI) announced the hire of Hugh Hall as managing director. Hall was a founder of Gramercy Capital Corp. and served as chief operating officer until its merger with American Financial Realty Trust in April 2008. He began his career at career at Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft and Credit Suisse, and has over fourteen years of experience in the commercial mortgage industry.

The dramatic reversal of fortune for commodity exporters, induced by a plunge in prices and the global liquidity crunch, has altered the terms of financing for a sector that benefited handsomely from the market trends of the last several years.

The European Commission (EC) disclosed its proposal for regulating credit rating agencies, following calls for regulatory oversight of these companies.

Moody's Investors Service's recent lowering of Ambac and MBIAs' ratings to 'Baa1' spurred a massive flow of downgrades.

Bank of America Corp.'s plan to modify 400,000 mortgages is proving to be more complicated than expected - and not only because there are third-party investors involved.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Wednesday delayed a resolution on adopting rules that related to the regulation of credit rating agencies. The Commission will return to the issue on Dec. 3.

The President and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Philip Day wrote Margaret Spellings, U.S. Department of Education (ED) secretary, and Henry Paulson, head of the Department of the Treasury, last week. In his letter, Day welcomed the recent government announcement that suggested a change in the focus of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to assist FFELP student loan issuers.

In a down market, only the fittest survive. With financial guarantors facing downgrades and insolvency, Assured Guaranty is pooling its resources with the only other triple-A rated monoline, Financial Security Assurance (FSA).

With November fast approaching December and the end of 2008, ABS market participants have all but written off new issuance activity until at least January.

Weak economic conditions have put capital strains on trust preferred securities (TruPS) issuers, causing a rise in payment deferrals and defaults within pools of these assets, TruPS CDOs.

Even in the current Era of Large Numbers, the third quarter "earnings" reports for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were shockingly bad.

Manager Activity: AutosFull Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market

Babson Capital Management announced a series of promotions today.

Ramesh Singh, head of real estate and securitized (RE&S) products. is departing