◆ Europeans want UK RMBS
◆ ESMA perplexes investors
◆ CLO amortisation: a vanishing act

Just two weeks into the year and Another Fine Mezz is one man down. The cold, the jet lag and a US bank holiday conspired to take Tom Lemmon out; leaving Victoria Thiele and George Smith to discuss the latest in European securitization between themselves. 

With deals galore in the UK RMBS market, it was a near miracle that George found the time to talk to investors about their confusion at the European Securities and Markets Authority's suggestion that they could have been anything but against simplified disclosure templates.

The CLO market is off to a much slower start than ABS, although a few managers have started to market deals. Victoria thinks those that are not should not wait too long. 

Amortisations of vintage CLOs could wash some welcome cash into the primary market. But despite a few liquidations in the last two weeks, Victoria is not too hopeful that managers and equity owners will be sprinting to repay debt investors early.