Securitization

It was not exactly a stunning comeback for the securitization industry, but last week's collection of deals marked something of a stepped up pace of issuance and there was talk of revived investor confidence in the industry.

While it originated a record amount of student loans, the lender acknowledged that current market conditions will force it to make loans at an economic loss.

The student loan ABS sector, usually one of the most stable and reliable of the ABS asset classes, has been putting on some uncharacteristically dramatic behavior lately.

ABN Amro ABS syndicate head Neil McPherson left the bank on April 10, according to people familiar with the bank. Market sources said that several people left along with McPherson, and suggested that the change was probably a result of downsizing after the company takeover by Royal Bank of Scotland. Company officials could not be reached by press time. McPherson joined ABN from Credit Suisse, where he was a managing director and syndicate head.

Mortgage rates remained almost the same this week versus last week, according to Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rates were unchanged at 5.88% for the third straight week. The 15-year rates slipped 2 basis points to 5.40%, while 5/1 and one-year ARM rates were 8 basis points lower to 5.48% and 5.10%, respectively.

Mayer Brown has been enlisted by Neville Kahn, Nicholas Dargan and Mark Adams from Deloitte and Touche to act for them as joint receivers of the SIV Golden Key, which is currently in receivership. Mayer structured finance partner Stephen Day as well as restructuring partner Ashley Katz are heading the Mayer Brown team. This is the most recent in a string of instructions for Mayer Brown related to SIV establishment and restructuring, according to a release from the law firm. These include Carrera Capital Finance, Rhinebridge, Cheyne Finance and the Master-Liquidity Enhancement Conduit (MLEC), among others.

The mass exit of lenders from the Federal Consolidation Loan market continues, as Student Loan Corp. (SLC) said recently that it will stop making those types of loans and suspend lending at certain schools.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published its latest bi-annual survey of derivative volumes today.

Greg Reiter, an MBS research analyst at UBS, is leaving the company and is set to take a position at the World Bank, said industry sources. Reiter has worked at UBS since 2005, bolstering what is considered a strong MBS research team. Before joining UBS, he worked for two stints at Freddie Mac as a director. A spokeswoman at the World Bank was unable to confirm whether Reiter would join the institution and what his function might be.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Europe has been primarily focused on the primary and secondary fixed income markets.

Standard Chartered Bank has made three senior appointments in financial markets.

London-based credit asset manager Cairn Financial Products is now the successor collateral manager for White Marlin CDO 2007-1, a $1.2 billion investment grade corporate CDO.

The formation of the Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group (CRMPGIII) was announced today and will be chaired by E. Gerald Corrigan, managing director at Goldman Sachs and Douglas Flint, group finance director at HSBC. The group will be Co-Chaired by Messers Corrigan and Flint.

CIFG Holding Ltd., the holding company for CIFG’s financial guaranty subsidiaries, named David Rockwell as chief risk officer with overall responsibility for the company’s risk management activities and surveillance functions. CIFG also announced Thierry Dissaux will serve as head of European operations and CEO for CIFG Europe.

Alistair Darling, the U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, said that the G7 leading economies need to take action to ease the ongoing strains on the global financial markets and to strengthen the financial system's resilience.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Sigma Finance's Gordian Knot-managed SIV senior ratings to A2'/P2' from Aaa'/'P1' following a review of credit enhancement and impending liquidity problems.

There's no doubt that the spread environment in Mexico has turned harsher, but sagging interest rates are mitigating much of the sting of the steeper spreads.

With the current volatile environment, surveillance has become a key feature in the work of collateral managers and investors alike. In this vein, Deloitte & Touche - which has previously come out with the ABCP, ABS and CDO Suite products as part of its Securitization Office family of solutions - has released Surveillance Suite, which is a customized tool to help users track their portfolios.

The British Airport Authority (BAA), which is owned by Grupo Ferrovial, said it is considering a combination of bank and bond financing.

Nine is so passe, at least if you track secondary loan trades. Markit launched the LCDX Series 10 index last week, and like its predecessor, the Series 9, it will track 100 issues trading in the secondary market. At midday Tuesday, the Series 10 reached 97.07, with a spread of 404.4 basis points. A week prior, the Series 9 index stood at 93.98, with a spread of 398.01 basis points. This is the first time since Oct. 23 that the LCDX has topped 97.