Throughout February, the Markit CMBX indices continued to improve at the AAA level, while the lower tranches of the index continued to decline in price.
The U.K. has indicated that it will not extend the European Commission’s Consumer Credit Directive to include mortgage lending in the kingdom.
Moody’s Investors Service says performance of consumer loan asset-backed securities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa remained stable in December.
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has warned the Financial Services Authority not to undermine the U.K. mortgage market’s recovery in its Mortgage Market Review.
The U.K. Building Societies Association has warned the government that plans to regulate buy-to-let mortgages could result in more lenders leaving the market.
The U.K.’s Council for Financial Stability says banks need to produce concrete refinancing plans before they can exit government liquidity schemes.
JPMorgan has arranged for the primary market Guaranteed Funding 2009-1, a €251 million ($342 million) cash flow securitization of loans issued to seven Danish financial institutions.
Banks in Europe are looking to increase their securitization structuring capacity as market spreads tighten and sponsors finally look to arrange deals.
Markit launched a leveraged loans index Thursday, just in time to mark a 0.1% softening in the market.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have separately announced programs to buy back delinquent loans as a way of saving money.
Avenue Capital Group reportedly is planning to launch a new distressed-debt fund.
A recent decision in the U.S. Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case held that investors in a collateralized debt obligation called Dante did not have the right to jump ahead of Lehman to get repaid, contradicting an English court decision and raising questions about how similar deals will be treated.
--Jordan Waring, ceo of startup broker-dealer AGS, a joint project of Dinosaur Securities and AmericaVest Financial.
The LCDX slid to 72.50 but still trading stronger than equities which were seeing the beginnings of a protracted sell-off into what would be historic lows in the market, on March 10.