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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 10 out of 27 results for "CDO".

First National Realty Partners Reg D Offerings: Muppets Do Commercial Real Estate

(Dec 2022)

By Craig McCann, Susan Song, Chuan Qin, and Mike Yan.

You can read our previous posts Reg D offerings:

1) "Reg D Offerings Summary Statistics" here,
2) "$8 Trillion of Broker-Sold Reg D Offerings" here,
3) "HJ Sims Reg D Offerings: Heads Sims Wins, Tails their Investors Lose" here, and
4) "Inactive and Delinquent Reg D Issuers" here.

You can download and print or email this post by clicking here.

Introduction

In a recent note, we explained how HJ Sims executives formed 91 separate...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 5th, 2015

(Sep 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Halts Ongoing Fraud in Minnesota
September 2, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 176)
James M. Louks and FiberPop Solutions Inc. are being charged with fraud and are being ordered to stop raising money from investors. Fiberpop was founded in 2003 as a builder and operator of fiber optic networks and data centers. The SEC alleges that although almost 100 investors were convinced to purchase notes to fund the company's business, Fiberpop has no operators or employees....

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - February 23rd, 2015

(Feb 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Halts Colorado-Based Pyramid Scheme
February 18, 2015(Litigation Release No. 35)
The SEC has announced fraud charges against and emergency asset freezes on Kristine L. Johnson and Troy A. Barnes for their involvement in an alleged Ponzi/pyramid scheme. The SEC alleges that Johnson and Barnes' company, Work With Troy Barnes Inc., raised over $3.8 million since April of last year by luring investors in with promises of 700% returns. These returns were claimed to...

Research Roundup

(Dec 2013)

For the more academically-inclined reader, here is a brief rundown of recent academic papers we have found interesting. As these are written by others, we do not necessarily agree with or stand by all of their points, so caveat emptor.

Trading Volatility: At What Cost?: The inventor of the original VIX, Robert Whaley, weighs in on volatility exchange-traded products, which he says are "virtually guaranteed to lose money through time." See also our papers on the subject.

Lapse-Based Insurance:...

Risk Retention in Collateralized Loan Obligations

(Sep 2013)

Last week we covered the SEC's proposed risk retention rules for securitized assets such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and mortgage backed securities (MBS). One of the reasons why these types of structured deals are so complex is because they are divided into many different securities, called 'tranches,' with different levels of risk. We explained tranching in our post, What is a CDO, Anyway?

The new proposed rules require sponsors of securitizations to keep at least 5% of each...

Cat Bonds and Contamination Risk

(Aug 2013)

Many pension funds have struggled to achieve sufficient return on their investments in the current low interest rate environment. Some have begun investing in insurance-linked securities, particularly catastrophe ('cat') bonds. You can find our primer on insurance-linked securities on our blog post, "The Basics of Insurance Linked Securities"; essentially, insurance companies issue cat bonds to transfer the risk of catastrophic losses to investors, meaning cat bond investors suffer losses in...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 21st, 2013

(Jun 2013)

SEC Charges San Diego-Based Promoter in Penny Stock Scheme
June 19, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22730)
According to the complaint, David F. Bahr "artificially increased the trading price and volume" of penny stocks in iTrackr Systems "when he conspired with a purported businessman with access to a network of corrupt brokers." Bahr had arranged the fraudulent purchase of $2.5 million worth of shares in iTrackr with this businessman and "during a test run of their arrangement, Bahr paid a...

Dodging Hedge Fund Requirements: The Case of Mariner Access

(Jun 2013)

Nowadays, there are several ways that retail investors can purchase risky investments which would typically be considered unsuitable. For example, many exchange-traded funds (ETFs) use derivatives to offer investors access to risky asset classes (such as CDOs) or complex options positions (such as covered calls). Since ETFs can be bought and sold like any other listed stock, essentially any investor can now take covered call positions regardless of her understanding of options. There is even...

Fitch Rolls Out New Ratings Indenture Abstract

(May 2013)

It is looking more and more like collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and other asset-backed securities -- the 'toxic' assets highlighted as some of the worst excesses of the financial crisis -- are back. And while the agencies that rate asset-backed securities are still at the center of the debate over the validity of these investments, at least one of them is trying to improve its explanation of their labyrinthine terms and conditions.

Fitch has recently published the first example of...

What Buying a House and Structuring an Asset Backed Security Have in Common

(May 2013)

When you buy a house, it's generally a good idea to get it inspected so you know if there are any expensive problems you might have to pay for after the deal closes. It's also a good idea to make sure that the person inspecting the house be independent, knowledgeable and perhaps most importantly objective -- not paid by or otherwise conflicted with the seller. Otherwise, they might overlook problems to make sure the deal goes through.

Asset backed securities (ABS) -- such as mortgage backed...

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