The Loan Committee™

The largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp., would have to hold capital in excess of Basel III standards under a proposal being drafted by Senate Democrats and Republicans to curb the size of too-big-to-fail banks.  The current draft of the legislation would require U.S. regulators to replace Basel III requirements with a higher capital standard: 10 percent for all banks and an additional surcharge of 5 percent for institutions with more than $400 billion in assets. Senators Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, and David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, have said they intend to introduce the bill this month. read entire article…. Author:  Cheyenne Hopkins; Source:  Bloomberg

Last May, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) paid roughly $800 million for a majority interest in LCOR, an investment, management and development firm whose portfolio includes 7,400 multifamily units, 7.7 million sq. ft. of commercial space and multiple development projects. In June, the California State Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) plunked down $100 million for one-third of Bentall Kennedy, a real estate investment advisor with $8.4 billion in U.S. assets under management. And in December, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) agreed to pay $250 million for a 49 percent equity stake in a high-rise apartment tower at 8 Spruce Street, in downtown Manhattan, and put down another $551 million for a 70 percent stake in MiMA, a luxury mixed-use complex at West 42nd Street.  read entire article…  Author:  Elaine Misonzhnik, Senior Associate Editor.  Source:  National Real Estate Investor.

Ever wonder why it requires a high level of sophistication, knowledge and experience to resolve distressed CMBS loans? Look no further than the complexity of the underlying structure. Check out this info-graphic generated by Case Property Services that merely scratches the surface.  read entire article…  Author:  Shlomo Chopp.  Source:  Case Property Services.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) began February by visiting Capitol Hill to argue that community banks should be exempted from many of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law’s new regulations. ICBA’s vice president of mortgage finance policy, ended the month by writing a comment letter asking that final mortgage rules the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued be adjusted to avoid leaving many consumers without access to mortgage credit. While acknowledging that the ICBA is generally pleased that the final rule provides some flexibility for community banks to continue to offer mortgage loans – including balloon mortgages – to the consumers in their communities, Haynie wrote that concern remained that the exemptions and exceptions would cover far too few community banks.  read entire article…  Author:  Not Listed.  Source:  TriNovus.

Legislation introduced Thursday by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., would impose a 0.03% tax beginning in 2014 on non-consumer financial trading, including stocks, bonds and other debts after their initial issuance, and would include derivative contracts, options, puts, forward contracts and swaps. The backers say the law would discourage speculative and high-speed trading and raise as much as $352 billion over 10 years, according to estimates for a similar proposal floated in the last Congress. read entire article… Author:  Hazel Bradford.  Source:  Pensions & Investments.

Butters Construction & Development is starting the new year with another announcement for the largest new industrial development in Miami-Dade County. Butters has partnered with L&B Realty Advisors to develop a 918,000-square-foot, Class A bulk distribution industrial park on a 44.5-acre site at NW 87th Avenue and NW 80th Street in Medley, Florida. Butters retained CBRE to procure a well-capitalized and institutional equity partner to acquire the site and develop the park. CBRE identified L&B Realty Advisors, and their client, the State of Florida, as the equity partner for the deal.  read entire article…  Author:  Lauren Crawford, CBRE, Source: Real Estate Rama.

MARKET OVERVIEW.  Cap rates for the single tenant net leased market continued to remain near historic lows for retail, office and industrial sectors in the fourth quarter of 2012. Most notably, cap rates for net leased retail properties declined by 25 basis points when compared to the third quarter of 2012. Cap rates for net leased office properties rose slightly and net leased industrial properties declined slightly. In the fourth quarter of 2012, net leased retail properties are experiencing a premium in excess of 75 basis points over both office and industrial net lease properties.  read entire article…  Author:  John Feeney, Research Director,  Source:  The Boulder Group.

The rally in commercial mortgage bonds since mid-2012 has paved the way for a brisk start for issuance this year and sweetened terms for borrowers.  A trio of Wall Street dealers this week plan to sell $600 million of commercial mortgage-backed securities based on a 12-year, interest-only loan on part of the 968,000 square foot Queens Center mall in New York, according to a term sheet.  read entire article….  Author:  Al Yoon; Source:  The Wall Street Journal.