Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), this week hammered the Obama Administration and Treasury Department at a panel discussion on the foreclosure crisis, saying fears of a political backlash led to the administration's tepid response to the housing crisis and refusal to back principal reductions.

In a report released this morning, Standard & Poor's analysts said covered bond issuance in 2012 should benefit from a bias for secured funding.

Realogy Corp. has amended and extended the existing Apple Ridge Funding securitization program issued by its services operating unit Cartus Corp.

The main drivers of markets in 2012 are likely to be similar to past year’s themes — uncertainty over the fate of the Euro, and the related question of whether or not there will be a global recession, said Alex Brown, group CIO of Schroders.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, through an affiliate, has increased an existing repurchase agreement with Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Capital.

Ranieri Real Estate Partners (RREP), New York, has established two new advisory services groups and as part of the initiative signed a definitive agreement to acquire boutique investment banking and advisory firm, Occom Capital Partners, which has offices in New York and Portland, Maine.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned provisional ratings to three series of notes issued by BBVA EMPRESAS 6.

Lawmakers raised sharp questions Tuesday about the ties between the 14 largest mortgage servicers and the purportedly independent consultants that were hired to review their practices, putting a top bank regulatory official on the defensive.

An affiliate of Newcastle Investment Corp. – a publicly traded REIT – has agreed to pay $43.7 million to Nationstar Mortgage in exchange for receiving 65% of the interest payments on a $9.9 billion pool of MSRs.

JGWPT Holdings, the parent company of JG Wentworth and Peachtree Financial, closed its $204 million securitization of notes backed by structured settlement and fixed annuity payments.

Mortgage application activity rose 4.1% in the week ending Dec. 9 due solely to a jump in refinancing activity as mortgage rates declined.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has reached a settlement of roughly $64 million with former senior executives of Washington Mutual Bank, senior agency officials said Tuesday.