Subprime ABS is making a comeback, mostly through auto deals. Some issuers are even doing these deals for the first time.

As life settlements have become an increasingly popular alternative asset class, Ireland has emerged as a leading jurisdiction for the establishment of vehicles for purposes of investing in U.S.-originated life settlement transactions. Sponsors have utilized two types of vehicles in Ireland to achieve their objectives - Irish unregulated special purpose vehicles (SPVs) or regulated qualifying investor funds (QIFs).

In the ASR Scorecards database's preliminary public lead manager rankings for 1Q12, Citigroup Global Markets took the No. 1 spot with a 12.6% market share and $4.8 billion sold. Citi rose three spots from 1Q11 with a 14.7% market share and $2.07 billion sold. ASR's 1Q12 numbers are as of March 26 while its 1Q11 are as March 31, 2011.

Changes made late last year to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP 2.0, are finally starting to affect prepayment speeds for both conventional MBS and GNMAs, and more recent changes in the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance premium (MIP) are also creating uncertainty about the prepayment outlook.

The European Commission's interpretation of Basel III rules for requiring banks to hold enough liquid assets to meet cash-flow needs for up to 30 days initially penalized RMBS.

The latest wave of proposed European regulations on rating agencies, known as CRA3, contains a rule that has unsettled players from every corner of the financial market: enforced ratings rotation.

It's rare that a bank gets paid to be an acquirer.

QE3 got a shot in the arm as the week started with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech about recent labor market developments.

2012 2011 2010 ABS (Public + 144A) 65,181.3 38,022.9 40,511.2 ABS (Public + 144A excluding CDOs) 61,430.8 36,503.1 39,943.4 ABS (Public Only) 43,396.3 20,451.3 15,981.6 ABS (144A Only) 21,785.1 17,571.6 24,529.7 Non-Agency MBS 11,770.7 20,222.3 7,477.1 Agency MBS 82,870.1 106,412.8 133,336.1 CMBS 5,170.1 11,358.3 5,865.4

Manager Activity: Autos Book Runner Amount (US$ Mil) Rank Mkt.

MORTGAGE DATA 30-yr. Fixed 15-yr. Fixed 5-yr Treasury 1-yr Treasury- MBA Refi Home Purchase Rate Mortgage Rate Mortgage Indexed ARMs Indexed ARMs Index Index Week ending 04/19/12 3.90%