The last few weeks have proven to be a tumultuous period for the capital markets, and with it a stark (and painful) reminder has been duly delivered on the impact that they have on all aspects of business and the wider economy. Securitisation has also shown that it is not immune to this turmoil demonstrated … Continue Reading
Estimated read time: 2 minutes 45 seconds It would be fair to say that when it comes to securitisation, I have always been very upbeat about the huge potential of this technology and the integral role that it can play. This is not only in providing a cheaper form of credit for borrowers but also … Continue Reading
Read time: 3 minutes 3o seconds Background Although the United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU) at 11pm on 31 January 2020, the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU provide for a transition period until 31 December 2020 (Exit Day). During the transition period, the European Securitisation Regulation (ESR) … Continue Reading
Read time: 5 minutes On 2 April 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published guidelines on legislative and non-legislative moratoria on loan repayments in light of COVID-19 (EBA/GL/2020/2) (the Guidelines). The Guidelines were updated by a supplementary supervisory statement addressing the treatment of securitised exposures subject to payment moratoria, issued on 22 April 2020. The … Continue Reading
Read time: less than 1 minute This week saw the High Court clash between the swap provider, UBS, and the recently appointed replacement note trustee (Glas Trust Corporation) on the embattled Fairhold Securitisation. The dispute at hand centres on whether or not the ad hoc noteholders group’s fees and expenses (comprising the fees of its … Continue Reading
| Read time: 2 minutes | Following their loss at first instance in Titan Europe 2006-1 P.L.C. and others [2016] EWHC 969 (Ch) (the background to the case and our commentary can be found here), the Class X Noteholder appealed the decision in respect of the central issue in the proceedings – when calculating the … Continue Reading
Picture this: it’s 1793. In England, George III is on the throne and the Bank of England issues the first ever ‘fiver’. In the U.S.A, George Washington hosts the first US cabinet meeting as President and the capital moves from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. In France, the French Revolution is in full swing with King … Continue Reading
Eight years on from the credit crisis, the drive to rehabilitate securitisation continues. The most recent body to speak up for the increasingly regulated structures is the European Banking Authority, which last month published an Opinion and an accompanying Report on the establishment of a European framework for qualifying securitisations for the purposes of determining favorable regulatory … Continue Reading
Much has been written regarding the recent EU and US sanctions targeting the Russian capital markets, military and oil sectors (our own commentary can be found here) and the broad nature of the sanctions has, it would seem, produced some (probably) unintended consequences when applied to the mechanics of day to day capital markets operations. … Continue Reading
€32,000,000. A horror indeed for Colliers International UK (plc) (Colliers) as Mr Justice Blair awarded that amount to the issuer of the Titan Europe 2006-3 CMBS (Titan). The judgment was for the loss suffered by Titan in relation to the negligent valuation by Colliers of a property in Nuremberg originally occupied by the (now bankrupt) … Continue Reading
Previously in Clash of the Titan 2007-1: Zeus has spoken, we took a brief look at the judgment delivered by Richard Snowden QC. Another interesting aspect of the case which is beginning to generate commentary is that one of the other pre-conditions to the replacement of the Special Servicer is that the successor Special Servicer … Continue Reading
Well, maybe not Zeus but Richard Snowden QC no less. On Valentine’s Day this year, we published our blog entitled “Clash of the Titan 2007-1”. Now that the red roses have wilted, the champagne drunk and the chocolates eaten, let us take a look at what the first instance decision in Titan Europe 2007-1 (NHP) … Continue Reading
So called ‘sunshine backed bonds’ are one of the newest and most exciting asset classes to enter the asset-backed securities market since the financial crisis. The resurgence of the market has led to a number of esoteric ABS issuances in recent months but it was solar energy that seemed most ripe for applying securitisation techniques … Continue Reading
Another day, another CMBS transaction declares an insolvency related event of default (after the REC6 default), this time based on the ‘balance sheet’ event of default. The notice posted by the issuer clearly states that after the sale of property securing the Brisk loan, the issuer will not have sufficient assets to repay the Class D Notes … Continue Reading
On 4 September 2013, the European Commission published a draft regulation on the regulation of European money market funds. Money market funds are important investors in certain types of securitisation, particularly asset backed commercial paper, and the draft Regulation includes some detailed provisions dealing with this relationship. This is explained in the recitals: “Due the fact … Continue Reading
For some time now I have struggled to give an abbreviated version of what I do. When “I’m a lawyer” elicits the question, “What sort of law do you practice?” I find that there is no short, layman’s-terms explanation of structured finance that doesn’t put people to sleep. Recently I have resorted to saying, “I … Continue Reading
Last week’s new Debussy DTC/Toys’R’Us CMBS transaction , which we were happily involved in, has sparked media attention as a sign of recovery of investors’ faith in the European securitisation markets. It also demonstrated investor demands to address some of the structural issues that had arisen in the original Vanwall securitisation as well as other … Continue Reading
Over the last 12 months we have seen a marked increase in interest in trade receivables financing in general and trade receivables securitisation in particular. This is a specialised area which brings with it unique challenges but also stable long term financing opportunities. Introduction Trade receivables are commercial debts generated by the sale of goods … Continue Reading
So Eurosail-UK 2007-3BL plc (Eurosail) is not ‘balance sheet’ insolvent, no event of default has occurred under the RMBS notes it has issued and a post-enforcement call option (PECO) does not make limited recourse any of the notes it relates to. Those are the conclusions of the Supreme Court (see here) after it substantially re-affirmed … Continue Reading
Those issuers, corporate services providers, collateral managers, servicers and special servicers that regularly submit debt announcements on the Irish Stock Exchange will know how straightforward and quick it is to submit. For those that don’t, at present this process involves simply sending a copy of the notice or announcement to the email address announcements@ise.ie and the … Continue Reading
Account banks, swap counterparties and liquidity facility providers getting downgraded is now the new norm. Not being able to locate replacements with the requisite ratings and/or the appetite to take on these roles on substantially similar terms is also passé. In reality, it is frequently the case that nothing changes. These entities are still performing … Continue Reading
As part of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) increased its oversight of “swaps”. One change stemming from Dodd-Frank is that a “swap”, as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, is now a “commodity interest”. The CFTC regulates collective investment vehicles that invest in commodity interests, which … Continue Reading
As some of you may have seen, Fitch helpfully issued a press release last week clarifying its position on providing rating agency confirmations (RACs) during the replacement of special servicers on EMEA CMBS transactions. Rather unhelpfully, however, the release stated they would not be providing any such RACs in the future. This policy, of course, … Continue Reading
A new consultation paper published earlier this week by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will inevitably cause uncertainty and is likely to affect investment decisions long before the new rules take effect. The paper sets out the Committee’s proposal to revise the treatment of securitisation exposures and is largely inspired by the belief that … Continue Reading