Fitch Ratings said in a report today that improved fundamentals in the in the U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) sector has led to a greater percentage of stable outlooks for investment grade CMBS deals.

JPMorgan Chase's net exposure to the sovereign debt of financially troubled countries is just $15 billion. At Goldman Sachs it's a paltry $1.5 billion. Bank of America's is under $17 billion and Citigroup has $22 billion.

Six Federal Home Loan banks have launched a salvo against Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $8.5 billion mortgage bondholder settlement, suggesting the payout may need to be triple that amount.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is demanding the release of federal reviews of 14 banks that have agreed to fix their foreclosure processes and reimburse homeowners for any harm caused.

Fitch Ratings released unsolicited comment today that stated that investment grade ratings assigned to the most junior class of the City Center Trust 2011 CCHP CMBS would most probably warrant no more than a ‘BBsf’ rating. The conclusion is based on the rating agency's current analysis of hotel properties.

Fitch Ratings has released an update to its criteria on existing asset securitization in emerging markets. The rating agency detailed the impact and potential risk of a sovereign default on transactions within these countries.

It was essentially "status quo" in terms of the mortgage rates in the week ending July 21.

Former officers and directors of WesCorp Federal Credit Union told a federal court yesterday that National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) growing legal battle with Wall Street banks over securities they sold to the failed corporate illustrates they could not have known the securities were faulty when they made the decision to buy them, thereby nullifying NCUA’s multi-billion dollar negligence suit against them.

Dechert has hired Jodi Schwimmer to join the firm’s finance and real estate practice as counsel.

Insurance giant MetLife said Thursday it plans to sell its banking affiliate but will remain in the residential finance and servicing business through its MetLife Home Loans division.

The Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) reported its largest ever one-month increase of 6.3% in May. This is also the first rise in six months for the index.

Two Harbors Investment, a unit of Pine River Capital Management, has hired David Miller as a managing director to oversee business development and strategic initiatives.