Mail Online •

Elderly Americans duped out of $13m in whisky investment scam

At least 150 elderly Americans have been swindled out of $13million by 'men with British accents' posing as whiskey and wine experts, according to the FBI. The scam went on for five years and spanned two continents utilizing three companies to allegedly defraud investors by dangling promises of high returns on their investments in rare wines and whiskeys. Fraudsters would use fake names like 'Elliot Stewart' to convince potential investors of their authenticity. Authorities have charged Casey
GlobalCapital •

Buyers eye UK retail assets as high street reopens

With the UK opening up high street retail on Monday, investors are said to be eyeing retail real estate for opportunities. But the market, hit hard by the pandemic, will be slow to recover – with Newcastle’s Metrocentre becoming a prominent example of the future for shopping centres after the pandemic. As the positive outlook for shopping centres increases, so too does the possibility of asset sales. Buyers in 2020 had been split into two camps: the first arguing for waiting out the pandemic un
GlobalCapital •

‘Trench warfare’ as vultures swoop on Irish NPLs

Private equity "vulture funds" are tightening their grip on Ireland after a Covid-19 parliamentary bill opened up more mortgages for repossession. But legal practitioners are working with non-profits to stop PE firms from “scraping the barrel” of defaulted mortgage debt. On a grey morning earlier this month outside the Ard-Chúirt; the High Court of Ireland, two men had just exited the lobby. One of them was Edmund Honohan, Master of the High Court, a post that is, according to the Association o
GlobalCapital •

French ‘mystery’ NPL market remains untapped securitization source

Bad debt investors are knocking on the doors of French banks, anticipating a rise in defaulted loans as the Covid-19 crisis worsens. But France is unlikely to see much NPL securitization due to a lack of pressure from regulators. In 2019, France had the second largest non-performing loan stock in Europe, according to Deloitte’s Deleveraging Europe report which tracks the sale of defaulted assets. Since then, the country has done little to improve its debt outlook. According to Allianz Research
GlobalCapital •

Tax jab aimed at Australia almost hits EU investors

The EU Commission is rushing to untangle legislation that would have stopped EU investors from buying Australian securitizations or covered bonds, after the country ended up on the EU’s list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. When European law makers were crafting the EU Securitisation Regulation amendments as part of the Capital Markets Recovery Package — a scheme that was to lay out Europe’s way forward out of the economic wreckage left by Covid-19 — the first thing on their minds was not
GlobalCapital •

Streaming revolution revives song securitizations

'Bowie bonds' were a pioneering innovation in the 1990s, allowing David Bowie to monetise his royalty revenues up front. But few artists ended up following his lead. Since the streaming revolution swept the music industry, however, securitizing songs has become more viable once again. Performing rights organisation Sesac has been a leader in the market. PROs are effectively bailiffs for the music industry, ensuring that venues, stores, YouTube, Netflix and others pay for the music they use. Ar
GlobalCapital •

Prestige syndicates private CBILS securitization

Prestige Capital Management, a UK fintech lender, has become one of the first firms to sell on a warehouse backed by UK SME loans originated under the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Prestige’s lending arm, Nucleus Commercial Finance, manages the loan portfolio. The UK government-owned British Business Bank recently accredited Nucleus as a provider of £200m ($273m) in loans under CBILS. Nucleus received new loan enquiries to the value of £300m-£400m at the b
GlobalCaptial •

Kensington brings landmark ‘social RMBS’ to Europe

Kensington Mortgages is bringing the first labelled social RMBS in Europe, a landmark transaction set to be followed by others, as the securitization market catches up to other capital markets which have more readily adopted ethical frameworks. By Tom Brown. A £472m deal, Gemgarto 2021-1, is a fully owner-occupied portfolio offering five tranches, including the 3.64 year senior notes, rated triple-A by Fitch and DBRS. Banks are marketing the transaction as a social bond, which follows the Banks
GlobalCapital •

CLO managers take Dutch tax gamble

It’s been almost a year since a Dutch tax ruling sent CLO managers scurrying to Ireland to avoid a VAT charge. But with the changes coming into action in 2021, some CLO managers are leaving their vehicles in the Netherlands and taking their chances on a ruling from the supreme court. With only three weeks to go until Christmas, Philippe Steffens, a partner at law firm Baker Mackenzie, was frustrated. His firm, along with dozens of others, had been spending the better part of 2020 moving more th
GlobalCapital •

Clash at top of EU over ABS threatens market revival

The European Commission is facing pushback from the European Parliament over it turning to synthetic securitization — a market that still echoes the 2008 crisis for many legislators — to boost the ABS market and repair Europe’s economy in the aftermath of Covid-19. Tom Brown reports. Debate over the role securitization should have in fixing Europe’s struggling economy dates back to before the pandemic. When the Commission reviewed securitization and brought in the ‘stable, transparent and stan
GlobalCapital •

Goldman, BofA take most of mammoth mortgage bond bidlist

Cerberus Capital Management drew strong demand for its 48-line item bidlist of mezzanine mortgage bonds on Thursday, with winning bids for most of the bonds in the nearly day-long sale going to Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, sources tell GlobalCapital. The trading kicked off at 1:00pm and continued well into the evening in London, wrapping up at 9:30pm, with the seller based in New York lengthening the execution time. “It's the longest BWIC in ABS history in terms of trading time," said a
GlobalCapital •

Piraeus seeks Hercules guarantee for €6.9bn of NPLs

Piraeus Bank on Monday filed for a €1.9bn NPL securitization transaction under the Hercules Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS), making it the third Greek bank to apply since the scheme began. It is also looking to add another €5bn securitization later in 2020. The transaction has been dubbed “Phoenix” and comprises mostly mortgage loans. It is set to achieve a Greek state guarantee on the senior notes of up to €1bn. The bank also announced it is planning to apply for an upcoming €5bn NPL securitiz
GlobalCapital •

Brexit to crack open synthetic STS and NPL rules

The ECON committee of the European Parliament has pushed back a meeting to agree on proposed amendments to the securitization market, making it unlikely that the UK will be able to adopt the same measures before Brexit. The divergence could pin ABS as the first capital market to see significant divisions between the UK and the EU after the two entities separate. November 9, 2020 is the new date of the meeting, when the ‘simple, transparent and standardised’ (STS) regulatory label will be amende
GlobalCapital •

Amigo tumbles again as board fights founder

James Benamor called a second shareholder vote in four months on Thursday to replace the board of Amigo Holdings, the troubled UK guarantor loan company he founded in 2005, after the board rejected his proposals — including reappointing him as CEO. The shareholder vote follows a list of proposals the founder submitted to the board, demanding the replacement of key members. “We hoped to obtain commitments and assurances which would have negated the need for a shareholder vote,” said Benamor on
GlobalCapital •

New CLOs seeded as managers split old warehouses in two

US CLO managers are working through a backlog of warehouses opened before the Covid-19 pandemic by splitting the facilities in half to buy back some equity and issue new deals. While in Europe, managers are tweaking deal documentation in preparation for new transactions. The formation of new warehouses is picking up as spread levels tighten, allowing managers to start the CLO incubation period. New warehouses will pave the way for future CLO issuance, although volume still remains very low, sou
GlobalCapital •

Brazilian credit card law will boost non-bank ABS

A new Brazilian law is set to boost credit card ABS securitizations from non-bank lenders, helping the alternative sector to thrive despite the economic fallout from coronavirus. The Brazilian parliament has passed legislation for payment arrangements, called law 14.031, which Fitch Ratings says will be positive for credit card securitizations. Most securitizations in Brazil come from the real estate and agriculture sectors, with laws allowing the packaging of these receivables into special pu
GlobalCapital •

Wave of static deals heralds a reopening for CLO market

The CLO market is pushing to reopen in April, but while deals in the US are forging ahead with 'print and sprint' and static deals, Europe is lagging, write Paola Aurisicchio and Tom Brown. After a 23-day pause in the primary market, US CLO issuance sprang back to life last week with a $425m static deal from GSO, the credit management arm of Blackstone. That sort of short-dated issuance was of the order sources expect to dominate revived CLO issuance as the market ...
GlobalCapital •

No ‘kicking the can’ for European CMBS, says servicer

CMBS investors are not in favour of long term waivers for distressed transactions, and may expect the sponsor to inject additional equity into a deal in return for waiving defaults, said panellists speaking at S&P’s European Structured Finance Virtual Conference 2020. Serenity Morley, head of primary servicing at Mount Street, said that 30% of real estate borrowers have asked for a waiver, with 37% of that figure in retail and 29% in the hotel sector. Stress in the European CMBS market has bee
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