Standard & Poor's Places 207 Classes of Alt-A Loans on Credit Watch Negative

The AP reports:

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said Tuesday it placed 207 classes of mortgage-backed securities issued between Oct. 2005 and Dec. 2006 -- all underpinned by an intermediate type of loan -- on a negative rating watch.

The 207 classes of securities, backed by "alt-A" loans, had an original balance of $913.9 million. That represents 0.2 percent of the approximately $455.4 billion in alt-A mortgage-backed securities S&P rated between Oct. 2005 and Dec. 2006.

Alt-A loans are loans given to customers with minor credit problems or that cannot provide full documentation of income and assets, unlike traditional prime borrowers.

Playing catch up.