Bonds

S&P Axes $41 Billion in Alt-A RMBS, Warns on More AAA Cuts Ahead 

The latest round of RMBS downgrades continued in full swing late Tuesday, as Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it had cut ratings on 2,138 classes of Alt-A RMBS form the 2006 vintage. The move came as the rating agency updated its loss assumptions on Alt-A loans, affecting more than $41 billion in issuance volume, or 6.1 percent of the par amount for the 2006 vintage. The agency also placed 487 AAA-rated Alt-A tranches on review for a future downgrade, it said. “Due to current market conditions, we are assuming that it will take approximately 15 months to