The Hits Keep Coming: Fitch Downgrades $9.4 Billion in Subprime RMBS

Question: how much is left to downgrade in the subprime RMBS space? Answer: more than you might think.

In what’s becoming a week-end ritual during the credit crunch, Fitch Ratings on Friday issued a spate of new subprime RMBS downgrades. The downgraded securities are sure to force some readjustments to someone’s balance sheet, given all of the previously-rated AAA securities that are now taking a fall.

The ignonimous list of new downgrades:

• $650.1 million from Equifirst Loan Trust 2007-1; included a ‘AAA’ downgrade;
• $21.2 million from two C-BASS 2007 deals;
• $171.4 million from 4 GMAC-RFC 2006 1st lien deals;
• $838.2 million from New Century 2006-1; multi-notch downgrade to one ‘AAA’ class;
• $169 million from GSAMP Trust 2007-H1; South Star and Decision One-originated loans, ‘AAA’ class downgraded;
• $900.9 million from 3 2007 GMAC-RFC deals; all three saw a ‘AAA’ class downgraded, originators include New Century and Ownit;
• $609.1 million from 2 ABSC 2007 deals; one deal is Ameriquest, other is RFC, both saw ‘AAA’ classes downgraded;
• $2.6 billion from 8 Carrington 2006 deals; includes numerous ‘AAA’ downgrades, mostly originated by New Century;
• $1.7 billion from 3 2007 Credit Suisse deals; ‘AAA’ downgrades involved;
• $894.2 million from 3 Carrington 2007 deals; ‘AAA’ downgrades involved;
• $881.2 million from 4 C-BASS 2007 deals; ‘AAA’ downgrades galore;

Grand total: $9.435 billion downgraded, and hundreds upon hundreds of individual bond classes.

Two deals did manage, however, to escape wholly unscathed; and that, under the circumstances, is news in and of itself. Fitch said it affirmed all classes of two HSBC subprime deals from 2007 (HSBC Home Equity Loan Trust 2007-1 and HSBC Home Equity Loan Trust 2007-2, for HW’s investor-led audience), removing the deals from negative watch.

For more information, visit http://www.fitchratings.com.