The conduit market does not absorb a lot of bandwidth in my day-to-day practice; I’m more of a CRE/CLO/warehouse/SASB/new products/innovation sort of guy. But it’s painful to watch this marquee capital markets product wither away, a product that transformed $200 billion of mortgage loans into securities in a single year. That biz might limp over … Continue Reading
Back in the febrile, hyperventilated times that birthed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (blessedly known simply as Dodd-Frank), one of the issues that energized the activists’ intent on “fixing” what was wrong was the notion that the ratings agencies were complicit in the overpricing of financial assets. In a “want for … Continue Reading
Just a few short months ago we took on the breathtakingly ill-conceived Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) standard that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed to implement starting in 2020. CECL will require major shifts in the way lenders model, forecast and reserve for future losses. It would materially drive up capital requirements, impair … Continue Reading
I’m a great admirer of Jack Cohen and his periodic market commentary. I answered his last one and then after the two of us talked, we decided we’d publish them together as a duet. So here you go.… Continue Reading
Morningstar has published a proposed method for rating single-asset/single-borrower (SASB) transactions. The new approach is slated to replace the “U.S. CMBS Subordination Model” with respect to SASBs and other forms of CMBS securities with similar credit and diversity profiles, including large-loan transactions and rake certificates. Morningstar has issued a request for comments on the proposal. … Continue Reading
Our friend, Dan Rubock, just inked an interesting and timely piece entitled, “Key pillars of loan structural quality are eroding, especially in single-borrower deals.” As usual, Dan’s views at Moody’s are worth considerable attention. That piece focused on bad-boy carve-out guaranties, the quality of borrower financial information, property release provisions, qualified transfer provisions and cash … Continue Reading
Returning to our theme that nothing’s easy and everything keeps changing, here is one out of left field. Let’s talk Probable Maximum Loss (“PML”) and seismic risk. ASTM International, the market standard setting organization for everything from toilet bowls to condoms, has just issued an amended seismic standards: Standard Guide for Assessments of Buildings (E2026-16) … Continue Reading
Here’s one from left field that I only began to focus on recently. In mid-December, the gnomes of Basel published several “Consultative Documents” on bank capital and credit risk issues. First of all, I’m somewhat suspicious by the open palmed amiability of something called a “Consultative Document.” That suggests a dialogue with regulators but this … Continue Reading
The second annual IMN CLO and Leveraged Loan Conference returned to New York this past week. Building on last year’s momentum (discussed here), over 1,500 managers and investors, in addition to structurers, bankers, lawyers and other industry actors, filled the convention space at the Conrad Hotel, doubling last year’s attendance and causing standing room only … Continue Reading
While we’re on the topic of Dodd-Frank rules and regs that could have a significant impact on the securitization market, the SEC recently reported the findings of a study it conducted regarding assigned credit ratings for structured finance products – a report required under Section 939F of the Dodd-Frank Act that will subsequently lead to … Continue Reading
The election’s over and elections matter we’re told, albeit most of the denizens of Washington seem to have remained in their seats. The fiscal cliff awaits. We wait, with various levels of trepidation, for a workable compromise or, perhaps, to find out that life goes on regardless of what our elected leaders do. A bit … Continue Reading
One of this year’s most discussed investment ideas is the conversion of distressed or foreclosed single family homes into rental properties on a mass scale. With the FHFA’s Real Estate Owned Initiative offering product in bulk sales and major institutions stepping up to develop programs to finance the acquisition of the pools, REO-to-Rental strategies are … Continue Reading
Earlier this month I was a panelist at the HOPE NOW REO Symposium in DC. The Symposium brought together residential mortgage loan servicers, community non-profits, private equity investors, government agencies and lenders to discuss the growing number of REO on the balance sheets of Fannie, Freddie and private mortgage lenders. I participated in a panel that focused … Continue Reading
Recently, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the arrival of “bad loan securities.” If this is a trend, and I both hope and think it is, we clearly have to get a better deal name for these than “Insert Bank Name”, Bad Loan Securities 2012-1. Securitization of less than ideal conduit product has been with us since the birth … Continue Reading
What’s with all these public CMBS offerings? And what about all that rule-making? The registered market has otherwise been frozen since the pre-crisis days, and the cloud of heavy-handed regulation looming over our heads is anything but an invitation to dust off your public shelf. Moreover, given that some of those regulations may be (or have … Continue Reading
Last Wednesday, Laura Swihart and I attended CREFC’s after-work seminar on the new model set of representations and warranties, which the group is set to release in coming weeks. The model set is the product of a patchwork committee of 50-odd individuals representing the full gamut of industry types – securitization issuers, bond investors, rating … Continue Reading
Although there is renewed optimism for a vibrant CRE lending market in 2011 (or at least a significantly better market than the prior 3 years), many lenders and servicers continue to face challenges in dealing with delinquent or defaulted commercial mortgage and mezzanine loans (whether held on balance-sheet or securitized). The volume of these “scratch … Continue Reading
