The Distressed Debt Report - September 25, 2007

Worst Housing Decline in 40 Years Impacts Debt Market

Moody’s Investors Service forecasts that the rate of defaults among U.S. companies with speculative-grade debt will climb from 1.4% to 4% over the next 12 months. But that’s just the beginning. The lenient debt financing that many companies with high leverage and poor business models obtained prior to July 2007 merely rescheduled their inevitable failures into 2008, 2009, and beyond. Full Story

Banks Offer Courtesy Discounts to Sweeten Deals

The turbulent debt market has opened up many avenues of investment for distressed-asset players. Some banks, for example, have recently devised creative strategies to entice investors to unload risky debt weighing down their balance sheets. Full Story

Ruling Clears Confusion Over Debt Trader Liability

A federal judge, in a ruling Monday, clarified for the market that secondary market investors in distressed debt are indeed not usually liable for the actions of the original lenders. Full Story

• Deloite, PwC Accountants Disciplined for National Century Fraud
• HSBC Hires Deutsche Bank Execs to Lead Debt Group
• Deutsche Bank Uses Novel Strategy for $2B CLO
• Audax Raising Distressed Debt Fund
• RAM Capital Looking to Raise $250M
• Praesidian Closes $236M Mezzanine Fund
• MCG Raises $43.5M in Public Stock Offering