For the week ending June 22, the Refinance Index declined 8% to 4955 from 5386 - its highest level since April 2009. Over the previous two weeks, the index jumped 20% largely as a result of a surge in the Government Refinance Index as pre-June 2009 borrowers took advantage of a drop in mortgage insurance premiums on streamlined refinances that became effective June 11. Also, as a percent of total application activity, refinance share slipped to 79% from 81% previously.

Capital requirements under the new bank capital rules released by U.S. regulators will be computed based on three formulas, although U.S. banks are expected to mostly gravitate to only one.

Fitch Ratings said that uncertainty surrounding the Dodd-Frank Act, particularly in terms of the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) definition, has led many traditional RMBS issuers to postpone their issuance plans.

The European Central Bank announced a relaxation of its criteria for repo eligibility on Friday.

After a long winter of price declines, Standard & Poor's (S&P) finally reported that its 20-city house price index (HPI) turned up in April.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) analysts said in their weekly report that the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision last Friday to relax its repo criteria will revive CMBS issuance from lower-rated countries — namely Portugal and Ireland.

JPMorgan analysts said that the majority of consumer ABS asset classes have continuously exhibited solid collateral performance after the crisis, including timeshare ABS.

Flagship Credit Acceptance is planning to sell a 144A auto ABS called Flagship Credit Auto Trust 2012-1.

Freddie Mac reported a rebound in lending activity in May after a significant drop in April.The secondary market agency reported Tuesday that it purchased $30.7 billion in residential mortgages from lenders in May, up 19% from April.

A loan officer for a Florida mortgage company was sentenced to more than four years in prison for pleading guilty to committing wire fraud in a $9.2 million mortgage fraud scam.

Credit Suisse and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities are raising a $413.4 million collateralized loan obligation for Prudential Investment Management, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

At last week’s American Securitization Forum Sunset Seminar, panelists discussed how the proposed Franken amendment creates unintended consequences in applying credit ratings.