George Miller, executive director of the American Securitization Forum, is resigning next month, the U.S. bond lobbying group said on Friday.
The ASF is an advocate for the securitization industry that was at the heart of the financial crisis. It has promoted increased transparency and federal programs that have helped stabilize part of the market, but issuances other than those supported by the government are mostly frozen.
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The cost of protecting Japanese corporate bonds from default increased, according to traders of credit-default swaps.
The Markit iTraxx Japan index rose 2.5 basis points to 145.5 basis points as of 9:30 a.m. in Tokyo, according to Morgan Stanley. That’s up from 135 basis points on Nov. 13, CMA DataVision prices show.
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The European Central Bank on Friday announced its first active step to unwind the extraordinary stimulus measures it has used to support the financial sector since the global crisis last year.
The bank said it will tighten the standards by which it accepts certain asset-backed securities as collateral for its refinancing tenders.
Read the whole story @ WSJ
Bank of America Corp. plans to sell $460 million of securities backed by commercial real estate without relying on a US program to aid lending, three days after the first sale of the debt in more than a year.
Backed by mortgages on office and industrial properties in Florida, the bonds are split into four portions, the largest of which is $350 million of top-rated debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Fortress Investment Group LLC is the sponsor on the transaction.
Read the whole story @ The Boston Globe