S&P Downgrades $23B of '07 RMBS

Standard & Poor's has downgraded 1,713 classes of U.S. RMBS backed by first-lien subprime, first-lien alternative-A, and closed-end second-lien mortgage loans issued in the first half of 2007.The downgraded securities had an original par value of $23.35 billion, which represents 6.28% of the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities backed by such collateral that were rated by S&P during that period, the rating agency reported. S&P said it also affirmed the ratings on securities representing $245.1 billion of U.S. RMBS backed by such collateral, and placed the ratings of 646 other classes on CreditWatch negative. "Transactions issued in 2007 have not experienced an adequate payment history to reliably apply our traditional surveillance assumptions," S&P said, "however, the same risks that are apparent in transactions issued in 2006 are present in transactions issued in 2007." The rating agency can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.