The Structured Finance Industry Group's Conference – ABS Vegas 2014

Katten will sponsor ABS Vegas 2014, a new conference developed by leaders representing the most active firms in asset-backed securities.

Partner John Keiserman will moderate the discussion “Auto ABS (Prime and Subprime)” at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22. Panelists will answer the following questions:

• What have we learned since the credit crisis and recession of 2008/2009?
• What are the recent market and regulatory trends that make ABS funding more or less attractive as a funding source?
• As the subprime share of the auto loan and ABS markets has grown in recent years, are there any cross-over lessons from other asset classes (e.g., subprime RMBS) that can be useful in looking at this sector?
• Is the increase in subprime issuances as a share of the auto ABS market a positive trend overall or not? How do subprime issuers and investors see this trend?
• What are issuers doing differently in terms of disclosure? Are issuers meaningfully changing their practices in response to regulatory mandates, and do investors care? Are any investors actually looking at what issuers are disclosing?
• Sales of residual interests: What has been the trend since the adoption of the new FDIC rules?
• Will risk retention rules effectively mean that there is no more possibility of off-balance sheet treatment?

Partner Chris DiAngelo will participate in the panel discussion “Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Esoteric ABS” at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 23. The session will discuss risk retention, conflicts of interest and the Volcker Rule to answer the following questions:

• Has the progression of regulatory reform, focused on more traditional asset-backed securities, actually created a more favorable playing field for esoteric ABS securities?
• Do example assets currently, or could they, fall outside the scope of some or all of the more onerous new regulatory regimes (e.g., risk retention, conflicts of interest, revised Reg. AB)?
• Will this lead to greater issuance and/or demand in the selected markets?

Partner Anna-Liza Harris will participate in the roundtable discussion “Global Trade and Commodity Finance: The Next Emerging Securitization Asset Class?” at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 24. Topics include:

• Overview of activity in the past year and anticipated trends for 2014 – completed deals and drivers behind anticipated further activity.
• How Basel III rules are impacting the sector and other regulatory considerations when structuring a transaction.
• Commodity lender from a banker’s point of view – what you need to know.
• Comparing commodity finance activity and trends across global regions (United States, European Union, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America).
• Coping with volatile commodity prices and currencies.