Mayer Brown has hired Stephen Rooney for its New York office as a partner and co-leader of its insurance finance group.

Prepayment speeds were projected to increase 10%-15% on average in response to a higher number of collection days at 22 from 20; a pickup in refinancing activity in response to record low mortgage rates, and a rush by servicers to close conventional loans before a 10-basis-point increase in the guaranty fee went into effect on April 1.

Even though third-party due diligence has always been performed on whole loans, the providers of these services have more skin-in-the-game now that rating agencies have very stringent requirements.

Auto ABS are gearing up for another busy week with some deals in the pike. A credit card deal is also coming to market.

Market Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF, a rules-based index intended to track the overall performance of publicly traded mortgage REITs, has risen by more than 10% year-to-date, according to a report published by Five Star Equities.

Fitch Ratings today lowered Saxon Mortgage Services' residential servicer ratings.

By at least two measures CMBS delinquencies took a notable upward turn in the last month, and by one measure new defaults also are still on the rise. But some observers believe the deterioration in performance is slowing in some areas and better days may lie ahead.

The potential sale of the Maiden Lane III (ML III) assets might signal that the Federal Reserve is making its move to take liquidity out of the system, securitization experts said today.

Freddie Mac reported a slight easing in fixed-related mortgage rates in the week ending April 5. The 30-year rates averaged 3.98%, down one basis point from last week; 15-year rates slipped to 3.21% from 3.23%, while 5/1 hybrid ARMs were at 2.86% from 2.90%.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York changed its investment objective for Maiden Lane III, a portfolio of mortgage-linked bonds acquired through its bailout of insurer American International Group (AIG), allowing it to explore the sale of some of the securities.

Bank of America has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue an auto transaction under its Bank of America Auto Trust 2012-1. The deal is worth almost $1.8 billion.