Even as he favored a broader exemption from risk retention than currently proposed, Rep. Barney Frank said Monday regulators should not undermine skin-in-the-game rules by turning the exception into the rule.

GreensLedge Capital Markets has appointed Ken Wormser and David Powar as managing partners at the firm. Wil Fischer, Ninat Lekagul, and Aimee Means will also join the firm as managing directors, with Mark David, Naz Majidi, and Craig Reckin being named directors at GreensLedge.

Global real estate funds management firm Agincourt Capital plans to launch this Thursday what it said is the first-ever offshore renminbi secured convertible bond fund for Australian residential and commercial real estate, and it is also in the process of structuring an RMB bond fund that will invest in certain New York City properties.

Bank of America on Monday tapped its legacy servicing chief, Terry Laughlin, as the bank’s new chief risk officer.

So far this year, $66 billion of new deals have been issued in the ABS market. The prime auto loan ABS sector makes up 25% of total volume, while the combined auto ABS sectors represent 57% of total volume. Meanwhile, student loans comprised 21% of the total loan volume, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch figures.

Trepp has acquired the online REIT information service called REITCafe.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has issued a final ruling meant to clarify the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA) receivership under the Dodd-Frank Act. Moody’s Investor Service considers this ruling to be credit positive for non-bank sponsored ABS, particularly auto loan ABS and equipment leases or instruments.

The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee on Tuesday will consider seven new bills to reform the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including one that prevents the Treasury from lowering the current 10% dividend the two pay to the government.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded one tranche from the GSAMP 2007-H1 and placed it on review for further downgrade along with five other tranches from thee subprime RMBS deals.

Stewart Lender Services (SLS) has acquired a majority ownership in PMH Financial.

Structured Finance Management (SFM Luxembourg) has appointed Laurent Bélik to managing director at the firm.

Fear of getting laid off has home shoppers wary of committing to a mortgage, and those who do want to buy a home continue to find it hard to get financing, a survey found.