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      <title>Structured Finance News Current Issue</title>
      <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/index.html</link>
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      <language>en-us</language>
      <copyright>Copyright 2008 Structured Finance News. All rights Reserved.</copyright>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:41:16 EST</pubDate>
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      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Scorecards]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[ View the Scorecard deals featured in ASR's latest issue.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187642-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
      </item>

      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Mortgage Refi Data]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  See results from the Mortgage Banker's Associations Refinance and Purchase Indexes as well as the weekly mortgage rates surveyed by Freddie Mac. ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187643-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
      </item>

      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[ABS Manager Rankings]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[ View the year-to-date manager rankings for the different ABS sectors, including real estate, credit cards and autos.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187644-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
      </item>

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         <title><![CDATA[ABS Totals]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[ View the year-to-date ABS issuance totals for ABS, MBS and CMBS.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187645-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[WHISPERS: November 24, 2008]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Ramesh Singh, head of real estate and securitized (RE&amp;S) products. is departing UBS to spend more time with his family and to subsequently pursue other career opportunities, according to an  internal UBS memo. The firm also announced that  its refocused real estate and securitization activities will be headed by managing directors Bill Chandler, Jack McCleary and Jim Reichek, who will report directly to Jerker Johansson, chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Investment Bank, and Jeff Mayer, the global co-head of the fixed income, currencies and commodities business. Bill Chandler becomes head of transaction management for the group. In this role, he will be responsible for the portfolio management of several existing securities programs and various other special situations. He will also be responsible for the transactions requiring pre-approval (TRPA) process within RE&amp;S. Jim Reichek will continue in his role as U.S. head of real estate finance, with responsibility for all commercial loan origination in addition to all trading in CMBS; and  Jack McCleary is named head of ABS and MBS trading activities. He will oversee the firm's client-facing businesses, which will include selective market making in non-agency securities, as well as portfolio analysis and restructuring services.  In addition, passthrough trading will be integrated within the bank's rates trading desk in Stamford, reporting to David Sacco.  ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187653-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[The Future of the GSEs]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Even in the current Era of Large Numbers, the third quarter 'earnings' reports for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were shockingly bad.    The two firms combined have lost a total of $54.2 billion dollars. The bulk of the losses ($17 billion for Fannie alone) were attributable to writing-off deferred tax assets, but the GSEs also reported huge increases in 'credit-related expenses.'  ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187654-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[New Year to Ring in Deal Flow? ]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  With November fast approaching December and the end of 2008, ABS market participants have all but written off new issuance activity until at least January.  While secondary market activity remains robust, with bid lists from every ABS sector coming in a flood, half the deals being shopped around in the secondary won't find bidders, according to one ABS trader. Mostly, market participants are trying to test different spread levels, he said.   ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187655-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[Govt. Program Not Enough to Offset TruPS CDO Losses]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Weak economic conditions have put capital strains on trust preferred securities (TruPS) issuers, causing a rise in payment deferrals and defaults within pools of these assets, TruPS CDOs.   Despite the government's promise of liquidity via the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), market participants are not convinced that helping the banks will be enough to offset losses in these pools. ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187656-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[Assured Bulks Up Balance Sheet With FSA Purchase]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  In a down market, only the fittest survive. With financial guarantors facing downgrades and insolvency, Assured Guaranty is pooling its resources with the only other triple-A rated monoline, Financial Security Assurance (FSA).   This is an acquisition that Assured hopes will bring strength in size.  'In this environment, bigger is better,' said Sabra Purtill, managing director of global communications and investor relations for Assured. 'Our core business is providing certainty to investors; we provide them with a guarantee. And it is clear in our minds, that to be a reliable provider of insurance in this market and going forward, you need to have big, stable, unquestionable balance sheet strength.']]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187657-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[Private Student Loan Players Ask Govt. for Help Under TARP]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  The President and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Philip Day wrote Margaret Spellings, U.S. Department of Education (ED) secretary, and Henry Paulson, head of the Department of the Treasury, last week. In his letter, Day welcomed the recent government announcement that suggested a change in the focus of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to assist FFELP student loan issuers.   However, he urged Spelling and Paulson to take similar 'effective actions' to ensure credit financing is available for those private education loan borrowers that need funding to pay postsecondary education expenses. ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187658-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[SEC Delays Rating Agency Reform Rules ]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Wednesday delayed a resolution on adopting rules that related to the regulation of credit rating agencies. The Commission will return to the issue on Dec. 3.   Back in October 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006 (CRARA) into law. This made substantial changes intended to revamp the rating agency business model. The law puts the SEC in charge of issuing rules regarding registered credit rating agencies' conflicts of interest and the misuse of public information.   ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187659-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[BofA Loan Mod Plan to Be Tweaked]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Bank of America Corp.'s plan to modify 400,000 mortgages is proving to be more complicated than expected - and not only because there are third-party investors involved.  The Charlotte company's deal with the attorneys general of 15 states to settle allegations of predatory lending by its Countrywide Financial Corp. did not address what should be done when a borrower has a second mortgage.  ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187660-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[Uncertain Outlook Leads to Investor Apathy]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Mortgage volume was running substantially below normal through midweek with spreads steadily widening despite buying support from money managers, hedge funds, banks and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.    Factoring into the poor performance was CMBS widening as a result of the probability that two JPMorgan commercial loans originated last year were likely to default. This added to investor concerns over the financial crisis extending into another sector. Since the economic slowdown affects consumer spending, this is expected to, in turn, impact hotels, offices and shopping malls.       ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187661-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[European CMBS Market Sees Spate of Downgrades ]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  Moody's Investors Service's recent lowering of Ambac and MBIAs' ratings to  'Baa1' spurred a massive flow of downgrades.   The European CMBS sector has been especially hard hit.  It saw downgrades from all three rating agencies over the past week.   ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187662-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[EC Preps New Regulatory Environment for Rating Agencies]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  The European Commission  (EC) disclosed its proposal for regulating credit rating agencies, following calls for regulatory oversight of these companies.  The regulations aim to impose rules that address four main areas: conflicts of interest, quality of the ratings and methodology, transparency, and consistent regulations among European Union (EU) countries.    ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187663-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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         <title><![CDATA[Export-Backed Deals: Is the Pendulum Swinging Back?]]></title>
         <description><![CDATA[  The dramatic reversal of fortune for commodity exporters, induced by a plunge in prices and the global liquidity crunch, has altered the terms of financing for a sector that benefited handsomely from the market trends of the last several years.   The question is whether they've altered enough to revive the export-backed deals that were a viable funding option before easy money and sky-high prices made them obsolete. While in the near term such a change seems unlikely, the conditions next year will arguably be more auspicious for this sector of ABS than they have been since 2004.   'We've been talking to a lot of investors about what they'd like to see when the markets come back,' said Reggie de Villiers, head of Latin American securitization at Merrill Lynch. 'One thing we've heard is secured export notes.'  ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.structuredfinancenews.com/issues/2008_45/187664-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS</link>
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