Calvin Wong has assumed the role of chief credit officer Morningstar Credit Ratings

Passage of housing finance reform is absolutely essential if policymakers want to see the development of a private-label securitization market again, according to industry lobbyists.

Sallie Mae priced a $676 million private student loan securitization this week. It is the issuer’s first deal of the year backed by the asset class.

JPMorgan Chase is scaling back its mortgage products as the market cools.

Barclays Bank Delaware is prepping $633-million credit card securitization, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Losses in both prime and subprime auto loan securitizations rose in January, but asset performance should improve in February and March, according to Fitch Ratings.

Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are lead managers on the latest CMBS conduit to come to market that will offer $879 million of notes backed by 78 fixed-rate commercial mortgage loans.

U.K.-based investment manager Venn Partners is planning to establish a Dutch RMBS issuance platform to fund new mortgage lending.

Three deals backed by consumer debt add $1.8 billion to the primary securitization pipeline this week. Year-to-date, issuance stands at $28.5 billion, roughly $3.5 billion behind last year’s figure, according to Wells Fargo.

A $679-million equipment-loan deal from Volvo is rounding the bend, according to a pre-sale report from Standard & Poor’s.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan have adjust mid-year spread targets tighter for both legacy and new-issue CMBS ;they still expect that legacy CMBS can outperform new issues.

Ray Gatten is credited with developing the first peer-to-peer consumer loan securitization while at National Alliance Securities; Philip Toth is a veteran of the same firm. .