January 2013

I have written periodically in this Blog about my persistent concerns about the European economy and its capacity to negatively impact ours. I get wound up, then I get swayed by the majority views of the chattering class who gently explain I’m indulging in alarmist adolescent flights of fancy and I should leave the big issues to the smart people, e.g., the overwhelmingly Europhile policy glitterati.Continue Reading Black Swans in Camo: Continued Concern about the European Community

Dechert’s securitization team is looking forward to the American Securitization Forum 2013 (“ASF 2013”) conference starting this Sunday, as it is expected to be once again the largest capital markets conference in the world. ASF 2013 is expecting over 4,500 participants who will all convene at the Aria Hotel and Convention Center in fabulous Las Vegas.Continue Reading ASF 2013 (“Viva Las Vegas”)

Yesterday, Moody’s issued a Sector Comment expressing concerns with respect to proposed REO-To-Rental deals structured to utilize a collateral package comprised of equity-pledges in the SPV property owners in lieu of individual mortgage liens. Moody’s indicated that such equity-pledge structures may need to have strong third-party oversight (including regular monitoring of the ownership of individual assets) and strong financial sponsorship to achieve the agency’s Baa rating. Issuers were hoping to use such structures as an answer to high transaction costs present in deals comprised of large numbers of low-value individual properties.Continue Reading REO-To-Rental Update: Moody’s Issues Guidance on Structuring Risks

After a night of fun at Dechert’s party at the SLS Hotel, many of us needed a pick-me-up on Tuesday morning. Those of us that dragged ourselves out of bed and into the roundtable discussion on market issues and opportunities were not disappointed. The quick hitting discussion by over two dozen industry insiders, including Crunched Credit’s own Rick Jones, provided no lack of entertainment or insight into the current state of the industry.Continue Reading CREFC Day 2: Riding the Wave

The Loews Hotel buzzed with optimism on the first day of the CREFC January conference, as over 1,300 attendees descended on South Beach.  After catching up with many friends, the Monday morning session began with lively meetings of the Agency Investors Forum, the High Yield and Investment Forum, the Issuers Forum and the Portfolio Lenders Forum.  Panelists at the forums expressed a general sense of optimism for 2013 and expect the general market trends of 2012 to continue into 2013.Continue Reading Day 1: CREFC Sizzles on South Beach

South Beach will welcome over 1200 lenders, borrowers, servicers, lawyers and other service providers to the January 2013 CREFC Conference for another party in the city where the heat is on. The conference kicks off on Monday with a series of forums for agency investors, high yield debt investors, issuers, portfolio lenders, servicers, B-Piece buyers and IG bondholders. The featured speaker Monday afternoon will be David Malpass, the president of Encima Global, an economic research and consulting firm serving institutional investors and corporate clients.Continue Reading January Conference 2013: CREFC’s Going to Miami