News & Analysis: All

Linklaters announced (March 8) that Kees Westermann will lead the global law firm's new structured finance practice in Amsterdam.  According to Linklaters, Kees joins the firm from Clifford Chance, where his structured finance work included securitizations and covered bonds.

In its first material revision since 2005, Moody's Investors Service has released an in-depth description of its methodology for covered bond ratings (March 4).  According to Moody's, the document "brings together for the first time in a single publication the various elements of the methodology, some of which have been the subject of separate publications over the last five years."

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) — a powerful voice in the U.S. housing arena — recommends moving toward a future where covered bonds could play a significant role in U.S. real estate financing.

This recommendation comes as part of a new NAR document on how best to restructure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant "Government-Sponsored Enterprises" (GSEs) that continue to play a massive role in providing funding for home mortgages even while suffering huge losses.

Barclay's and Banco Populare launch jumbos ... Fitch downgrades three Greek mortgage covered bonds ... concerns raised about German public sector covered bonds ... and more.

Some items of covered bond news do not rate their own story in this publication — often because they relate to geographic areas outside our focus, North America.  Even so, readers who want to keep up with covered bond news in general might find them interesting.