Surety

SBA Recognizes the Office of Surety Guarantees FY23 Award Winners

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 28, 2024
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“SBA’s surety guarantee partners play a crucial role in helping the SBA facilitate billions of contracting dollars to America’s small businesses, and our 2024 Surety Guarantee award winners are delivering above and beyond to advance our economy,” said Administrator Guzman.

Key Points: 
  • “SBA’s surety guarantee partners play a crucial role in helping the SBA facilitate billions of contracting dollars to America’s small businesses, and our 2024 Surety Guarantee award winners are delivering above and beyond to advance our economy,” said Administrator Guzman.
  • Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services was honored as Surety Agency of the Year, and Kenneth C. Turner of KOG International, Inc. was chosen as Surety Agent of the Year.
  • Surety of the Year award recipient The Gray Casualty & Surety Company joined the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Prior Approval Surety Bond program in 2017.
  • Surety Agency of the Year award recipient Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services is an Alliant company that has been an SBA-authorized agency since 2011.

Landsea Homes Announces Pricing of Private Offering of Senior Notes

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Debt-to-GDP ratio, Surety, Person, Regulation, Sale, Offering, Security (finance)

DALLAS, March 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Landsea Homes Corporation (Nasdaq: LSEA) (“Landsea Homes” or the “Company”) announced today that it has priced its previously announced offering (the “Offering”) of $300,000,000 of 8.875% Senior Notes due 2029 (the “Notes”).

Key Points: 
  • DALLAS, March 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Landsea Homes Corporation (Nasdaq: LSEA) (“Landsea Homes” or the “Company”) announced today that it has priced its previously announced offering (the “Offering”) of $300,000,000 of 8.875% Senior Notes due 2029 (the “Notes”).
  • The Offering is expected to settle on or around April 1, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.
  • The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Notes to pay down a portion of the outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.
  • An offer or solicitation to buy the Notes, if at all, will be made only by means of a confidential offering memorandum.

Landsea Homes Announces Commencement of Private Offering of Senior Notes

Retrieved on: 
Monday, March 18, 2024
Surety, Person, Regulation, Sale, Security (finance)

DALLAS, March 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Landsea Homes Corporation (Nasdaq: LSEA) (“Landsea Homes” or the “Company”) announced today that it intends to offer $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2029 (the “Notes”), subject to market conditions and other factors.

Key Points: 
  • DALLAS, March 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Landsea Homes Corporation (Nasdaq: LSEA) (“Landsea Homes” or the “Company”) announced today that it intends to offer $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2029 (the “Notes”), subject to market conditions and other factors.
  • The Notes will be guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior unsecured basis, by all of the Company’s material wholly owned subsidiaries as of their issuance (the “Guarantors”) and will rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the Company and Guarantors.
  • The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Notes to pay down a portion of the outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.
  • An offer, or solicitation to buy, the Notes, if at all, will be made only by means of a confidential offering memorandum.

KBRA Assigns Long-Term Ratings of AA to Three Series of Chicago Park District General Obligation Bonds; Outlook is Positive

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Data Analytics, Other Professional Services, Professional Services, Finance, Surety, Financial management, Chicago Park District, City, Forecasting, AA, FYE, KBRA

KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AA with a Positive Outlook to the Chicago Park District General Obligation Limited Tax Park Bonds Series 2024A; General Obligation Limited Tax Refunding Bonds, Series 2024B; and General Obligation Unlimited Tax Bonds, Series 2024E (Special Recreation Activity Alternate Revenue Source).

Key Points: 
  • KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AA with a Positive Outlook to the Chicago Park District General Obligation Limited Tax Park Bonds Series 2024A; General Obligation Limited Tax Refunding Bonds, Series 2024B; and General Obligation Unlimited Tax Bonds, Series 2024E (Special Recreation Activity Alternate Revenue Source).
  • Additionally, KBRA affirms the long-term rating of AA, and Positive Outlook, on the District’s outstanding General Obligation Bonds.
  • The rating actions reflect the following key credit considerations:
    Strong financial condition as evidenced by stable and healthy levels of operating reserves.
  • Substantial tax base with deep and diverse economy that is coterminous with the City of Chicago.

Citigroup Global Markets Holdings Inc. – Issue of EUR 375,000,000 Cash Settled Exchangeable Bonds due April 2029 Referable to the Shares of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Fashion, Professional Services, Retail, Luxury, Finance, Asset Management, Banking, Citigroup, EUR, Exercise, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Application, Bond (finance), Issue date, S&P, Surety, LVMH, Euronext Paris, VWAP, Open Market, Security (finance)

Citigroup Global Markets Holdings Inc. (the “Issuer”) announces the offering of guaranteed cash-settled exchangeable bonds due April 2029 (the “Bonds”) in an aggregate principal amount of minimum EUR 375,000,000 and maximum EUR 400,00,000.

Key Points: 
  • Citigroup Global Markets Holdings Inc. (the “Issuer”) announces the offering of guaranteed cash-settled exchangeable bonds due April 2029 (the “Bonds”) in an aggregate principal amount of minimum EUR 375,000,000 and maximum EUR 400,00,000.
  • The Bonds are referable to ordinary shares (the “Shares”) of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (the “Company”).
  • Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners.
  • Such activities may impact the price or value of the Shares and/or the Bonds, and may affect a Bondholder’s return on the Bonds.

KBRA Assigns AA+ Rating, Stable Outlook, to the City of New York's General Obligation Bonds

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Professional Services, Finance, Surety, Climate change, Face, Jules Kroll, KBRA, Quality of life, European, AA, Issuer, Fiscal

KBRA assigns long-term ratings of AA+ with a Stable Outlook to The City of New York's General Obligation Bonds - Fiscal 2024 Series D, Series E, Series F, and General Obligation Bonds - Fiscal 2006 Series I, Subseries I-4 and Fiscal 2006 Series I, Subseries I-5.

Key Points: 
  • KBRA assigns long-term ratings of AA+ with a Stable Outlook to The City of New York's General Obligation Bonds - Fiscal 2024 Series D, Series E, Series F, and General Obligation Bonds - Fiscal 2006 Series I, Subseries I-4 and Fiscal 2006 Series I, Subseries I-5.
  • Concurrently, KBRA affirms the AA+ rating and Stable Outlook on the City's outstanding General Obligation Bonds.
  • Economic base remains susceptible to financial services sector cycles, although reliance has moderated with increasing diversification.
  • Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com .

KBRA Assigns AA Rating, Stable Outlook to State of Louisiana General Obligation Bonds Series 2024-A and Refunding Series 2024-B; Affirms Rating for Parity Bonds

Retrieved on: 
Friday, March 15, 2024
Professional Services, Finance, Surety, COVID-19, Employment, Petroleum, Cyclone, Parity, KBRA, AA, Bank

KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AA with a Stable Outlook to the State of Louisiana General Obligation Bonds, Series 2024-A and General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2024-B.

Key Points: 
  • KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AA with a Stable Outlook to the State of Louisiana General Obligation Bonds, Series 2024-A and General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2024-B.
  • Concurrently, KBRA affirms the AA long-term rating and Stable Outlook on parity General Obligation bonds outstanding.
  • The rating was affirmed because of the following key credit considerations:
    Constitutional balanced budget requirement, coupled with statutory limitations on fund balance utilization for operations.
  • Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com .

The impact of regulatory changes on rating behaviour

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Długosz, Disagreement, Pi bond, Direct lending, Key, Research Papers in Economics, Finance Secretary (India), University of Oxford, STS, Journal of Economic Perspectives, International, American Economic Review, Life, Columbia Business School, British Academy of Management, Risk assessment, ABS, Rating, EBA, Development, Reputational damage, OBS, CRA, Bond credit rating, Cras, Journal of Monetary Economics, CDO, Becker, Paper, 2007–2008 financial crisis, Raja, University, Environment, Journal of Financial Economics, Perception, H3, Website, Securitization, Working paper, Market, Collection, Total, European Banking Authority, Quarterly Journal of Economics, BBB, Whetten, Column, ESMA, European Journal, Issuer, Asset quality, Information revolution, Federal Reserve Bank, OLS, Statistics, PDF, Private, ECB, Surety, Weighted-average life, CCC, European Commission, Social science, Journal of Financial Stability, JEL, Real, Bias, Journal, Research, Classification, Certification, Commission, Credit, The Journal of Finance, Literature, Karel Škréta, European Central Bank, AA, Finance Research Letters, Origination (telephony), Monetary economics, Section 5, Xia, Kraft Foods, Government, AAA, Mukherjee, Finance, Deku, DOI, White, Risk, IOSCO, MBS, OECD, Wang, Section 4, University Challenge 2013–14, Section 3, Ashcraft, Financial management, Accounting, Financial economics, Fannie Mae, Conference, Pressure, Central bank, Griffin, University of Michigan, Systematic review, EPRS, Freddie Mac, Loan, BCBS, Palgrave Macmillan, R2, Microeconomics, Quarterly Journal, Financial statement analysis, The Japanese Economic Review, Christian Social Union (UK), Green, University of Huddersfield, PSM, Management, Security (finance), Security, Civil service commission, Private placement, American Economic Journal, GFC, Reproduction, IMF, Small business, Trustee, Data

Abstract

Key Points: 
    • Abstract
      We examine rating behaviour after the introduction of new regulations regarding Credit Rating
      Agencies (CRAs) in the European securitisation market.
    • There is empirical evidence of rating catering in the securitisation market in the pre-GFC period (He et al.,
      2012; Efing and Hau, 2015).
    • Competition among
      CRAs could diminish ratings quality (Golan, Parlour, and Rajan, 2011) and promotes rating shopping by
      issuers resulting in rating inflation (Bolton et al., 2012).
    • This paper investigates the impact of the post-GFC regulatory changes in the European
      securitisation market.
    • In 2011, in addition to the creation of
      European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), a regulatory and supervisory body for CRAs was
      introduced.
    • We examine how rating behaviours have changed in the European securitisation market after the
      introduction of these new regulations.
    • We utilise the existence of multiple ratings and rating agreements between
      CRAs to identify the existence of rating shopping and rating catering, respectively (Griffin et al., 2013; He
      et al., 2012; 2016).
    • We find that the regulatory changes have been effective in tackling conflicts of interest between issuers
      and CRAs in the structured finance market.
    • Rating catering, which is a direct consequence of issuer and
      CRA collusion, seems to have disappeared after the introduction of these regulations.
    • There is empirical evidence of rating catering in the securitisation market in
      the pre-GFC period (He et al., 2012; Efing and Hau, 2015).
    • Competition among CRAs could diminish ratings quality (Golan, Parlour,
      and Rajan, 2011) and promotes rating shopping by issuers resulting in rating inflation (Bolton et
      al., 2012).
    • This paper investigates the impact of the post-GFC regulatory changes in the European
      securitisation market.
    • In 2011, in addition
      to the creation of European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), a regulatory and
      supervisory body for CRAs was introduced.
    • We find that the regulatory changes have been effective in tackling conflicts of interest
      between issuers and CRAs in the structured finance market.
    • Rating catering, which is a direct
      consequence of issuer and CRA collusion, seems to have disappeared after the introduction of
      these regulations.
    • Investors who previously demanded higher spreads for rating agreements for a
      multiple rated tranche, did not consider the effect of rating harmony as a risk in the post-GFC
      period.
    • Regarding rating shopping, we find that the effectiveness of the changes has been limited,
      potentially for two reasons.
    • Additionally, we also find that rating over-reliance might still be an issue, especially
      Rating catering is a broad term and it can involve rating shopping.
    • They re-examine the rating shopping and rating
      catering phenomena in the US market by looking at the post-crisis period between 2009 and 2013.
    • Using 622 CDO tranches, they also observe the existence of rating shopping and the diminishing
      of the rating catering.
    • Firstly, our main focus is the EU?s CRA Regulation and its effectiveness in reducing
      rating inflation and rating over-reliance.
    • To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to
      examine the effectiveness of the EU?s CRA regulatory changes on the investors? perception of
      rating inflation in the European ABS market.
    • Hence, the coverage and quality of our dataset constitutes significant addition
      to the literature and allows us to test the rating shopping and rating catering more authoritatively.
    • The following section reviews the literature
      on securitisation concerning CRAs and conflicts of interest, and outlines the regulatory changes
      introduced in the post-GFC period.
    • Firstly, ratings became ever more important as the Securities and
      Exchange Commission (SEC) 5 began heavily relying on CRA assessments for regulatory purposes
      (i.e.
    • the investment mandates that highlight rating agencies as the main benchmark for investment
      eligibility) (SEC, 2008; Kisgen and Strahan, 2010; Bolton et al., 2012).
    • issuers) as one of the main explanations for the rating inflation (He et al., 2011; 2012; Bolton
      et al., 2012; Efing and Hau, 2015).
    • Bolton et al., (2012) demonstrate that competition
      promotes rating shopping by issuers, leading to rating inflation.
    • The last phase, CRA III, was implemented in mid-2013 and involves an additional
      set of measures on reducing transparency and rating over-reliance.
    • As mentioned above, rating inflation can be caused by rating shopping
      In order to be eligible to use the STS classification, main parties (i.e.
    • The higher the difference in the number of ratings for a
      given ABS tranche, the greater the risk of rating shopping.
    • Alternatively, the impact of the new
      regulations could be limited when it comes to reducing rating shopping.
    • This is because, firstly,
      the conflict of interest between securitisation parties is not necessarily the sole cause for the
      occurrence of rating shopping.
    • L is a set of variables (Multiple ratings, CRA reported, Rating agreement) that
      we utilise interchangeably to capture the rating shopping and rating catering behaviour.
    • Hence, issuers are incentivised to report the highest possible rating and
      ensure each additional rating matches the desired level.
    • All in all, our results suggest that
      the new stricter regulatory measures have been effective in tackling conflicts of interest and
      reducing rating inflation caused by rating catering.
    • Self-selection might be a concern in analysing the impact of the
      new measures and investors? response with regard to the rating inflation.
    • This
      result is in line with the earlier findings suggesting that regulatory changes have reduced investors?
      suspicion of rating inflation and increased trust of CRAs.
    • Conclusion
      Several regulatory changes were introduced in Europe following the GFC aimed at tackling
      conflicts of interest between issuers and CRAs in the ABS market.
    • Utilising a sample of 12,469
      ABS issued between 1998 and 2018 in the European market, this paper examined whether these
      changes have had any impact on rating inflations caused by rating shopping and rating catering
      phenomena.
    • We find that the
      effectiveness of the changes has been more limited on rating shopping potentially for two reasons.
    • Tranche Credit Rating is the rating reported for a tranche at launch.

Gulf Island Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Operating cost, Vexatious litigation, Investment, Share repurchase, Growth, Prejudice, Hurricane Ida, Note, Sale, Segment, GAAP, Consolidated, Webcast, Gulf of Mexico, Insurance, Central Time, Surety, Workforce, Corporation, Video game

Operating income was $2.7 million for the fourth quarter 2023, compared to operating income of $2.2 million for the fourth quarter 2022.

Key Points: 
  • Operating income was $2.7 million for the fourth quarter 2023, compared to operating income of $2.2 million for the fourth quarter 2022.
  • Operating income was $6.1 million for the fourth quarter 2023, compared to operating income of $4.1 million for the fourth quarter 2022.
  • Shipyard Segment – Revenue for the fourth quarter 2023 was $0.6 million, an increase of $0.2 million compared to the fourth quarter 2022.
  • Operating loss was $0.1 million for the fourth quarter 2023, compared to an operating loss of $3.6 million for the fourth quarter 2022.

First Quantum Minerals Announces Pricing Of $1,600 Million Senior Secured Second Lien Notes Offering

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 23, 2024
Prospectus, Financial services, Person, Note, Investment, News, TSX, Advertising, Sale, Nature, Communication, Order, Surety, Legislation, Directive, Finance, Offering, Security (finance)

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or the “Company”) (TSX: FM) announces that it has successfully completed the pricing of its offering (the “Offering”) of $1,600 million aggregate principal amount of 9.375% senior secured second lien due 2029 (the “Notes”). The issue price of the Notes is 100.000%.

Key Points: 
  • TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or the “Company”) (TSX: FM) announces that it has successfully completed the pricing of its offering (the “Offering”) of $1,600 million aggregate principal amount of 9.375% senior secured second lien due 2029 (the “Notes”).
  • The Notes will be guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior basis by the guarantors (the “Guarantors”) described in the offering memorandum for the Offering (the “Guarantees”).
  • The Guarantees will rank equally in right of payment to all existing and future senior debt of the Guarantors.
  • The Company intends to apply the net proceeds from the Offering towards the redemption of all of its outstanding senior notes due 2025 and 2026.