Although President Obama Thursday night made a slight reference to a government-backed refi plan for troubled mortgagors, the effort appears to be temporarily stalled over concerns about what effect it would have on both MBS investors and the megabanks, according to advisors and trade group sources who claim to have knowledge of the program.

Fitch Ratings submitted its comment letter in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Solicitation of Comment to Assist in Study on Assigned Credit Ratings, which is required by Section 939F of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week issued a concept release that reexamines the ability of REITs to use an exclusion under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Bond insurer Assured Guaranty has a bone to pick with Standard & Poor's over the rating agency's new bond insurance rating criteria.

The massive lawsuits that the federal government brought last week against many of the largest U.S. and global banks underscore the deepening tension within the executive branch with regard to housing.

Ginnie Mae president Ted Tozer has a problem and it goes like this: over the past 18 months the agency has approved 60 new firms to issue government-backed MBS, but few are actually issuing.

Freddie Mac said it will not dramatically discount its backlog of foreclosed homes, arguing that such steep price cuts could destroy the housing market.

State Street Corp. has launched a derivatives clearing service, complete with a swaps clearing platform.

Americans are expressing their highest levels of pessimism regarding the housing market and the economy in general, according to Fannie Mae's August National Housing Survey.

Bank of America Corp.'s executive shuffle this week supports what the beleaguered Charlotte conglomerate has been telling investors for weeks: It will keep selling unwanted bits of the company and hold on to major business units.

Highland Capital Management has put its European CLO business back up for sale after taking it off the block earlier this year, according to Bloomberg.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) released a statement today expressing its dissapointment after the Chicago City Council approved an ordinance on vacant homes.