This dissertation examines several research questions relating to securitization by non-financial firms. Finance theories suggest securitization is most beneficial when there is high demand for liquidity. On the other hand, empirical studies have shown that firms engage in securitization to manage earnings. I find that liquidity demand, not the incentive for earnings management motivates securitization transactions by non-financial firms. I also evaluate whether earnings management in securitization is indeed undesirable from a shareholder's perspective by examining the economic consequences of the practice. Because securitization creates a large infusion of cash, one way to evaluate the economic consequences of earnings management is to examine whether securitization proceeds encourage overinvestment. I find that earnings management in securitization (i.e., recording non-zero securitization income) is unrelated to firms' suboptimal) overinvestment in the post-securitization period. Thus, it appears that earning management in securitization has no negative economic consequence in terms of generating excess securitization proceeds that encourage overinvestment. I also examine the market's valuation of securitizable assets in the accrual components of earnings and the use of securitization proceeds. Because securitizable assets can be converted into cash through securitization, I test whether the market valuation reflects the source of liquidity in securitizable assets that is similar to the cash component of earnings. I find that, for securitization firms, the market valuation of securitizable assets is similar to that of the cash component of earnings. / Lastly, I find some evidence supporting the assertion that firms' liquidity prior to securitization influences the market valuation on securitization proceeds retained on the balance sheet, in that the market assigns a discount to retained proceeds for firms with excess liquidity prior to securitiaztion. / by Qianyun Huang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (2006) the increased supply of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS), with a range of subordination, has broadened the investor base in real estate debt markets and reduced the commercial property sector’s dependence on bank financing The CMBS market has been one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors in the capital markets, for a market which was virtually nonexistent prior to 1990. The global CMBS market issuance which stood at AU$5.1 billion (US$4 billion) in 1990 had grown to AU$380 billion (US$299 billion) by the end of 2006. In Australia, a total of over 60 CMBSs with nearly 180 tranches totalling over AU$17.4 billion had been issued to December 2006 from when they were first introduced in 1999. To date few studies have been done on Australian CMBSs outside the credit rating agency circles. These studies are predominantly practitioner focused (Jones Lang LaSalle 2001; Richardson 2003; Roche 2000, 2002). O’Sullivan (1998) and Simonovski (2003) are the only academic studies on CMBSs. As such, this thesis examines issues relating to the development of Australian CMBSs and quantitatively and qualitatively analyses the structuring of Australian CMBSs. In assessing the growth of the Australian CMBS market, an interpretive historical approach (Baumgarter & Hensley 2005) is adopted to provide a cogent review and explanation of features of international and Australian CMBSs. This helps to understand the changing nature of the market and provides better understanding of the present and suggests possible future directions. The Australian CMBS market is matured in comparison with the larger US and EU CMBS markets as seen by the diversity of asset classes backing the issues and transaction types, tightening spreads, and record issuance volumes. / High property market transparency (Jones Lang LaSalle 2006b) and predominance of Listed Property Trusts (LPT) as CMBS issuers (Standard & Poor’s 2005b), who legally have to report their activities and underlying collateral performance to regulatory regimes such as Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)/Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and their equity partners, have contributed to the success of the Australian CMBS market. Furthermore, the positive commercial real estate market outlook should support future CMBS issuance, with LPTs continuing their dominance as issuers. In investigating property risk assessment in Australian CMBSs, all the CMBSs issued over a six year period of 2000 to 2005 were obtained from Standard and Poor’s presale reports as found in their Ratings Direct database to identify and review how property risk factors were addressed in all issues and within specific property asset classes following the delineation of property risk by Adair and Hutchinson (2005). Adequate assessment of property risk and its reporting is critical to the success of CMBS issues. The proposed framework shows that assessing and reporting property risk in Australian CMBSs, which are primarily backed by direct property assets, under the headings of investment quality risk, covenant strength risk, and depreciation and obsolescence risk can easily be done. The proposed framework should prove useful to rating agencies, bond issuers and institutional investors. Rating agencies can adopt a more systematic and consistent approach towards reporting of assessed property risk in CMBSs. Issuers and institutional investors can examine the perceived consistency and appropriateness of the rating assigned to a CMBS issue by providing inferences concerning property risk assessment. / The ultimate goal of structuring CMBS transactions is to obtain a high credit rating as this has an impact on the yield obtainable and the success of the issue. The credit rating process involves highly subjective assessment of both qualitative and quantitative factors of a particular company as well as pertinent industry level or market level variables (Huang et al. 2004), with the final rating assigned by a credit committee via voting (Kwon et al. 1997). As such, credit rating agencies state that researchers cannot replicate their ratings quantitatively since their ratings reflect each agency’s opinion about an issue’s potential default risk and relies heavily on a committee’s analysis of the issuer’s ability and willingness to repay its debt. However, researchers have replicated bond ratings on the premise that financial ratios contain a large amount of information about a company’s credit risk. In this study, quantitative analysis of determinants of CMBS credit ratings issued by Standard and Poor’s from 2000 – 2006 using ANNs and OR and qualitative analysis of factors considered necessary to obtain a high credit rating and pricing issues necessary for the success of an issue through mail surveys of arrangers and issuers are undertaken. Of the quantitative variables propagated by credit rating agencies as being important to CMBS rating, only loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is found to be statistically significant, with the other variables being statistically insignificant using OR. This leads to the conclusion that statistical approaches used in corporate bond rating studies have limited replication capabilities in CMBS rating and that the endogeneity arguments raise significant questions about LTV and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) as convenient, short-cut measures of CMBS default risk. / However, ANNs do offer promising predictive results and can be used to facilitate implementation of survey-based CMBS rating systems. This should contribute to making the CMBS rating methodology become more explicit which is advantageous in that both CMBS investors and issuers are provided with greater information and faith in the investment. ANN results show that 62.0% of CMBS rating is attributable to LTV (38.2%) and DSCR (23.6%); supporting earlier studies which have listed the two as being the most important variables in CMBS rating. The other variables’ contributions are: CMBS issue size (10.1%), CMBS tenure (6.7%), geographical diversity (13.5%) and property diversity (7.9%) respectively. The methodology used to obtain these results is validated when applied to predict LPT bond ratings. Both OR and ANN produce provide robust alternatives to rating LPT bonds, with no significant differences in results between the full models of the two methods. Qualitative analysis of surveys on arrangers and issuers provides insights into structuring issues they consider necessary to obtain a high credit rating and pricing issues necessary for the success of an issue. Rating of issues was found to be the main reason why investors invest in CMBSs and provision of funds at attractive rates as the main motivation behind CMBS issuance. Furthermore, asset quality was found to be the most important factor necessary to obtain a high credit rating supporting the view by Henderson and ING Barings (1997) that assets backing securitisation are its fundamental credit strength. / In addition, analyses of the surveys reveal the following: • The choice of which debt funding option to use depends on market conditions. • Credit tranching, over-collateralisation and cross-collateralisation are the main forms of credit enhancement in use. • On average, the AAA note tranche needs to be above AU$100 million and have 60 - 85% subordination for the CMBS issue to be economically viable. • Structuring costs range between 0.1% – 1% of issue size and structuring duration ranges from 4 – 9 months. • Preferred refinancing options are further capital market issues and bank debt. • Pricing CMBSs is greatly influenced by factors in the broader capital markets. For instance, the market had literary shut down as a result of the “credit crunch” caused by the meltdown in the US sub-prime mortgage market. These findings can be useful to issuers as a guide on the cost of going to the bond market to raise capital, which can be useful in comparing with other sources of funds. The findings of this thesis address crucial research priorities of the property industry as CMBSs are seen as a major commercial real estate debt instrument. By looking at how property risk can be assessed and reported in a more systematic way, and investigating quantitative and qualitative factors considered in structuring CMBSs, investor confidence can be increased through the increased body of knowledge. Several published refereed journal articles in Appendix C further validate the stature and significance of this thesis. It is evident that the property research in this thesis can lead aid in the revitalisation of the Australian CMBS market after the “shut down” caused by the melt-down in the US sub-prime mortgage market and can also be used to set up property-backed CMBSs in emerging countries where the CMBS market is immature or non-existent.

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The first essay explores the dynamic behaviors of mortgage-backed stock returns and their volatility spillovers within the framework of time-varying symmetric, asymmetric and multivariate GARCH-family models. The focus of the chapter is on the dynamics of volatility of the U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) and volatility spillovers within the REITs subdivisions as well as between the REITs and the Fannie Mae (FNM) and theFreddie Mac (FRE) mortgage-backed stocks. We analyze risk-return linkages using the GARCH-in-mean (GARCH-M) model. The presence of asymmetric effects of "bad" news and "good" news on conditional financial volatilities is evaluated using the Threshold ARCH (TARCH) model and the exponential GARCH (EGARCH) model. Volatility spillovers and comovements within REITs subdivisions; REITs with FNM and FRE and other selected financial assets are examined using the multivariate GARCH (MGARCH) model. The second essay investigates factors behind the existence of time-varying conditional volatilities of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). This is done by analyzing the impacts of economic volatilities on mortgage-backed financial markets' performance. The relationship between conditional volatilities of the MBS and conditional volatilities of the key economic fundamentals in the housing sector and the macroeconomy are explored. The sensitivity of mortgage-backed stocks to the underlying time-series changes in economic fundamentals, and the extent to which economic volatilities explain the variation in mortgage-backed stocks' volatilities are investigated. Particularly, we examined whether changes in the REITs, FNM and FRE volatilities are linked to and driven by time-varying volatilities of the housing sector economic activity and set of key macroeconomic variables. Thus, the chapter analyzes the impacts of conditional economic volatilities on the conditional volatilities of the REITs, FRE and FNM stocks. The GARCH (p, q) process is used to find conditional volatility dynamics for the economic variables in the study. Then we employ multivariate GARCH (p, q) model to investigate the spillovers and comovements among the conditional economic fundamentals' volatilities and the conditional volatilities of the MBS. The third essay explores the impacts of foreign sector of the economy on the mortgage-backed financial markets and the housing sector. There is large surge of foreign capital flows to the U.S, particularly since late 1990s. The net foreign holdings of U.S. financial assets have become very significant in the U.S. Treasury notes and bonds. Foreign investors also hold a growing share of securities of the U.S. agencies and government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Similarly, foreign direct investment in the U.S. real estate as well as real estate equities in the form of REITs has grown sharply. To this end, a multivariate vector autoregression (VAR) model is the main tool of analysis. Based on the VAR model, generalized impulse response functions and generalized variance decompositions are employed to evaluate the responses of mortgage interest rates and Treasury yields to the changes in net foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries and agency bonds.

The main objects of this diploma thesis are basic trends in the mortgage market in the United States and their role in the current mortgage crisis. As a theoretical background in the first part of this work are mentioned asymetric information with the optimal consumer choice regarding mortgage product and the general theory of the securitization. Practical part continues from the description of the main characteristics of the mortgage to the whole mortgage market and the role of government agencies. Following analysis is concerning the significant tendencies in the past years, which dominates in the mortgage market in the USA. The focus is mainly aimed at the growth of alternative mortgage products in connection with strong home price apreciation. Then the position of mortgage brokers and their role in the subprime sector are discusssed. Subprime sector is analysed as well and then the securitization of mortgages as the main trend in the past years is investigated. The development of the current crisis is the object of the last chapter.

Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) are a type of security backed by mortgages as the underlying asset. This is achieved through a process called securitization, where specific mortgages are grouped together and separated from the bank’s other assets, and then sold to investors. One of the risks for investors in MBS is mortgage prepayments made by the borrowers of the underlying mortgages. This risk arises due to the uncertainty of the expected cash flows to be distributed among the investors. There is a correlation between falling market interest rates and an increase in prepayments. When market interest rates fall, borrowers have an incentive to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates, leading to higher prepayment rates. The Public Securities Association (PSA) model is recognized as a standard benchmark for estimating prepayment rates in MBS. In this paper, we have introduced models to generate time points for prepayments and compare how well these models match with the PSA model. Some of these models determine the timing of each prepayment event using an exponentially distributed Poisson process, while one model employs the Gamma distribution. Additionally, we introduce a strategy where prepayment is strategically triggered by whether the market rate falls below the contract rate. In that strategy, we investigate when it is most beneficial to make a prepayment. The results show that among the models employing random generation of prepayment events, the Gamma distribution best aligns with the PSA rule. Regarding the strategic prepayment strategy, our findings suggest that it is most advantageous to make prepayments early in the mortgage term, aligning with the most rational behavior as well.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Owners of directly held, large commercial properties mostly face problems regarding liquidity and sometimes higher-risk exposure due to large properties dominating their property portfolio. • Exit vehicles in the listed property sector on the JSE are gaining momentum but are, however, still facing the negative impact of overall bear market conditions. • An exit vehicle in the bond market can serve as an alternative, where a Limited Purpose Company/Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) acquires a rental income stream from a portfolio of properties and issues bonds. The funds raised from bond investors, who focus on the credit rating of the income stream and not the properties, are then used to acquire the property assets. • Current market conditions, favour an asset-backed securitisation of property leases. Low interest rates and other factors in the current market, as discussed in this document, ensure lower costs of debt and easier access to capital when funds are raised on the bond market, relative to the equity markets, with highly geared structures not necessarily causing a negative impact on the credit rating (80% - 90% gearing possible with A - AA local credit rating). • Usually a promoter, a Merchant Bank and a few institutions/ pension funds are involved. Example: Institution X will be requested to take up an equity stake in the fund by selling some properties or stakes therein (Institution X buildings) and receiving payment in a combination of cash, junior bonds and equity. The benefits to Institution X are discussed on page 39. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Eienaars van groot kommersiële eiendomme wat direk besit word, ondervind normaalweg probleme rakende likiditeit en verhoogde risiko a.g.v. die groot eiendomme wat hulle portefeulje domineer. • JEB (Johannesburgse Aandelebeurs) genoteerde maatskappye, as uitgangstrategie vir die verkoop van eiendom, is 'n oplossing, maar beer mark toestande verlaag die moontlikheid. • 'n Maatskappy genoteer op BESA (Effektemark) kan as uitgang- strategie dien, waar die voormelde maatskappy met beperkte aanspreeklikheid die huurinkomstestroom van 'n portefeulje van eiendom aankoop en effekte uitgee vir die finansiering van die transaksie. Die beleggers wie die effekte koop, fokus op die kredietgradering van die effekte en nie die eiendom as onderliggende bate nie. • Huidige mark omstandighede verbeter die moontlikheid van 'n bategesekureerde sekuritusasie van eiendomshuurkontrakte. Lae rentekoerse en ander faktore wat in hierdie dokument bespreek word, verseker laer koste van kapitaal en makliker toegang tot fondse relatief tot die aandelemarkte. Hoë hefboom-finansiering is moontlik sonder te groot impak op die kredietgradering. (A-AA kredietgradering moontlik met 80%-90% skuld) • Normaalweg is 'n promoter, 'n beleggingsbank en 'n paar institusies/ pensioenfondse betrokke. Bv. Institusie X word versoek om aandeelhouding op te neem in 'n maatskappy deur eiendomme te verkoop aan die voormelde maatskappy en betaling te ontvang in die vorm van 'n kombinasie van kontant, junior effekte en aandele. Die voordele vir Institusie X word bepreek op bl. 39

published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Master / Master of Philosophy

Commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (CMBS) is an important development in the South African property finance field. This study explains the characteristics; structure and structuring; advantages, disadvantages and risks; and legal and regulatory aspects of CMBS. Four CMBS programmes have been launched in South Africa to date (August 2006) all of which have been originated by listed Property Loan Stock (PLS) companies. The unique features of the four programmes were examined and the impact on their originators and the listed property sector was analysed. The main participants in the South African CMBS industry were interviewed. CMBS has acted as a catalyst for greater competition between banks resulting in lower interest rates on bank debt and the creation of new property financing products. The introduction of CMBS has benefited not only the four originating PLS companies, but also had a positive impact on the entire listed property sector. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (CMBS) is an important development in the South African property finance field. This study explains the characteristics; structure and structuring; advantages, disadvantages and risks; and legal and regulatory aspects of CMBS. Four CMBS programmes have been launched in South Africa to date (August 2006) all of which have been originated by listed Property Loan Stock (PLS) companies. The unique features of the four programmes were examined and the impact on their originators and the listed property sector was analysed. The main participants in the South African CMBS industry were interviewed. CMBS has acted as a catalyst for greater competition between banks resulting in lower interest rates on bank debt and the creation of new property financing products. The introduction of CMBS has benefited not only the four originating PLS companies, but also had a positive impact on the entire listed property sector. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)