Finance

The number of private student loans defaulting in 2Q11 increased by 5% from 1Q11, according to the Moody's Investors Service Private Student Loan Indices.

Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks said C.T. Hill, its corporate executive vice president and head of consumer banking and mortgage, would now have his primary focus on the company's mortgage business.

Bank of America Corp. may settle a state and federal probe of foreclosure practices in a deal that allows New York to proceed with an inquiry into securitizations, said a Bloomberg report citing two people with direct knowledge of the talks.

Avis Budget Rental Car Funding (AESOP) is in the market with a $300 144A deal called Avis Budget Series 2011-5.

Mortgage application activity increased a modest 4.1% in the week ending Aug. 12 despite further declines in mortgage rates, reported the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this morning.

The Knights of Columbus late Tuesday said in a press release that it has expanded a case against the Bank of New York as trustee for 18 RMBS trusts originally issued by Countrywide with additional claims of breach of contract, among other things.

The list of objections to the risk retention proposal appears endless.

Citigroup has acquired the management responsibilities for four CLOs from DiMaio Ahmad Capital (DA Capital) for an undisclosed sum.

Eight MBS lawsuits filed against Countrywide Financial Corp., now a subsidiary of Bank of America Corp., have been consolidated into one case in California.

Conventional refinance mortgage application numbers affected by low rates during last week's market volatility are expected to come in roughly around 20% lower than they were when the Mortgage Bankers Association's application index hit its peak last year, according to a Credit Suisse report Monday.

Bank of America Corp.'s deal on Monday to sell its unwanted Canadian card assets is the latest example of how smaller acquisitions are fueling a slow revival in the credit card portfolio sales market.

Distinctive features related to principal forgiveness in an unusual modification program Ocwen recently started could improve efforts made to resolve underwater loans in securitizations, according to a Moody's Investors Service report Monday.

BlueMountain Capital Management (BMCM) closed on a $361 million CLO. The new vehicle, BlueMountain CLO 2011-1, is the fourth that the investment management company has brought to market, but its first since the financial crisis. The first three vehicles were issued in 2006 and 2007.

Mortgage fraud continued at elevated levels in fiscal year 2010 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continues to "dedicate significant resources to the threat," the agency said in its FY 2010 Mortgage Fraud Report.

An "unprecedented crackdown." That's how Commissioner David Stevens described a get-tough program that took place under him at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) from mid-2009 until April of this year. As part of the push, the FHA's Mortgage Review Board issued more administrative actions against lenders in Stevens' first year than it had in the prior eight years combined.

Credit card delinquencies fell to their lowest point in 17 years in the second quarter as consumers remained cautious about taking on more debt and issuers continued their conservative approach to lending, TransUnion Corp. said Tuesday.

Several units of Mexican cement maker Cemex recently closed a 4.2-year, Ps2.5 billion ($204 million) facility backed by their trade receivables, according to a release by Finacity Corp., which arranged the deal. Ixe Casa de Bolsa was the sole underwriter. Both HR Ratings and Standard & Poor's rated the deal triple-A on their respective national scales.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the U.S. long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and Fitch-rated U.S. Treasury security ratings at 'AAA'.

Moody's Investors Service's index of cumulative defaults for Spanish RMBS rose to 1.98% of the original balance in June compared to 1.89% in March.

More homeowners say they are under water on their mortgage and more Americans are pessimistic about house prices, according to a quarterly consumer survey by Fannie Mae.