Finance

Last week the Senate passed a payroll tax compromise (H.R. 3630) containing a provision to raise GSE and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guarantee fees by 10 basis points on new originations.

House GOP lenders want to conference with the Senate on a full-year extension. But Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., maintains he will not start negotiations until the House passes the two-month extension that the Senate approved Saturday by a 89-10 vote.

Federal regulators unveiled a highly-anticipated proposal Tuesday that details how they plan to regulate the largest domestic financial firms, including new capital and liquidity requirements.

Vertical Capital Markets Group, Irvine, Calif., this week launched a new fund that invests primarily in assets of residential performing loans secured by first mortgages or deeds of trust.

A federal judge yesterday questioned National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) claims of malfeasance in the sale of MBS to WesCorp Federal Credit Union by RBS Securities.

Single-family housing starts rose 2.4% in November on a sequential basis while multifamily starts jumped 32%, according to a new government report.

Average daily volume in the CMBS market in December is down versus November, according to data reported by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine or TRACE.

Miami-based education lender U. S. Education Loan Trust (USELT) is pursuing legal action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding the Royal Bank of Canada’s actions as underwriter, broker-dealer, remarketing agent and back-up purchaser of auction rate securities (ARS) issued by USELT.

It looks like Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller won't be getting his Christmas wish this year.

There's no law against running a flawed business poorly. If there were, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would have far more to work with in going after former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bosses for misleading investors.

Fannie Mae's chief economist is warning that the U.S. has a 40% chance of slipping into a double-dip recession in 2012.

A long-awaited package of critical regulations from the Federal Reserve Board — viewed by many as the core of the Dodd-Frank Act — are expected to be released Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A federal judge last week directed National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to begin negotiations aimed at settling NCUA’s $629 million claims over the failure of WesCorp Federal Corporate Union, one of five suits NCUA has filed against Wall Street banks over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities to corporate credit unions.

A funny thing happened on the way to the mortgage correction: while residential debt outstanding has been declining steadily for well over a year, subservicing contracts have increased – handsomely.

JPMorgan named a new head of its leveraged finance group in North America, the bank confirmed.

Members of a House Financial Services subcommittee are at odds over how to address conflict of interest issues involving the servicing of first and second mortgages.

Fitch Ratings said today that its outlook for both FFELP and private SLABS is negative. The rating agency expects both sectors to remain in the headlines in 2012.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, told investors at the beginning of 2011 that potential repurchases of private-label mortgage securities are "not that material" for his bank — an assertion that increasingly appears to be in doubt.

The Senate over the weekend added a guarantee fee increase for Ginnie Mae MBS to the payroll tax bill, passing the measure by an overwhelming margin of 89-10.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) hired Christopher Moroz and Michael Giasi to its fixed-income team, expanding KBCM's MBS capabilities.