Morgan Stanley is readying a European synthetic collateralized debt obligation of asset-backed securities with a couple of unique features. The structure allows Morgan Stanley to make an unlimited number of portfolio substitutions. The deal is also arranged so that the credit default swap settlement mechanism will pass losses on the underlying pool of assets through to the noteholders, says Mike Nicholson, associate director at Standard & Poor's in London.
Called Arosa Funding Ltd., the deal will create a warehouse facility for assets from transactions in which Morgan Stanley has played a role. Initially, the size of the underlying asset pool will be E215 million, but that is expected to be increased. The deal's structure permits for a maximum asset pool of E2.5 billion. The deal is expected to close this month. Repeated calls to Jerome Anglade, the lead banker on the deal at Morgan Stanley in London, were not returned.