Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in a letter to Sen. Tim Johnson (D., S.D.) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.) yesterday asked the legislators to look into Ally Financial's alleged improper foreclosure actions. For a copy of the letter, please click here.

Six mortgage industry groups are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to preempt from state law new and improved mortgage disclosures, fearing that state interference will muddy and slow the process.

SA Home Homes Loans (SAHL) is refinancing its Thekwini Fund 6 RMBS via a new ZAR800 million ($99.7 million) deal that will be backed by prime mortgage loans secured on residential properties in South Africa.

A key federal regulator is signaling that banking agencies are not close to formulating final regulations that address risk retention on mortgage securitizations.

Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay $315 million to settle claims that its Merrill Lynch unit made false and misleading statements about the quality of subprime MBS it sold to investors.

Bank of America Corp. is expected to clear a legal hurdle that tripped up Citigroup last week and has propelled it toward a risky day in court.

European ABS issuance sold to investors should at most grow only modestly next year, Standard & Poor's said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week hired Manoj K. Singh as principal examiner for risk, in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

ABS related to autos, including deals backed by floorplans and leases, is likely to rise about 6% in volume during 2012, to $80 billion, Standard & Poor's said today. The figure for 2011 through Dec. 1 is $69 billion, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Jon Corzine, former head of MF Global, who was subpoenaed last week to testify in front of Congress, could shed some insight over where the missing MF Global funds ended.

Most CMBS collateral from 2001 rated by Fitch Ratings has withstood both a turn-of-the-decade recession and a recent global credit crisis.

UBS and Citigroup are planning to sell a $674 million CMBS expected to close before the year's end, according to a Bloomberg report.