Moody's Downgrades 500+ Subprime Tranches

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded more than 500 tranches in over 50 subprime residential mortgage-backed securities transactions from four issuers. Of the downgraded tranches, 146 remain on review for possible further downgrade. The negative rating actions affected the following securities: 268 tranches from 27 subprime RMBS deals issued by Bear Stearns; 104 tranches from 11 subprime deals issued by Argent; 92 tranches from nine subprime deals issued by INABS; and 63 tranches from seven deals issued by Ixis. The downgrades, in general, were based on higher-than-expected rates of delinquency, foreclosure, and real estate owned in the underlying collateral relative to credit enhancement levels, Moody's said. The collateral consists primarily of first-lien subprime residential mortgage loans. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.