Finance

Elizabeth Warren has spent much of the past year arguing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is not as scary as banks think. But as she steps aside, will that really be the case?

Legislation is moving forward that would more definitively exempt rating agencies from a liability that shut down securitized markets at one point last year, according to an industry trade group.

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) submitted its comments to regulators on the joint regulatory proposal on credit risk retention for ABS.

First and second mortgage default rates fell in June to 2.02% and 1.40% respectively, according to the Standard & Poor's /Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. Last month the two default rates were recorded at 2.09% and 1.42%, respectively.

While in the United States efforts to create more new-issue-rated RMBS are just starting to gain a little more momentum and the latest economic indicators at press time have not exactly been rosy, RMBS Down Under have been doing relatively well.

Greenwich Associates released its annual list of top leaders in the U.S. institutional fixed-income trading market today, revealing a deadlock for first between Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan with each firm holding an 11.5% overall market share.

Single-family housing starts unexpectedly jumped 9.4% in June from the previous month with multifamily activity spiking 32%.

Lloyds Bank TSB is marketing bonds backed by ₤1.2 billion ($1.92 billion) of loans to small and medium sized businesses.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) late Monday filed its third lawsuit alleging violations of federal and state laws related to misrepresentations in the sale of MBS to now defunct corporate credit unions.

Freddie Mac released its July 2011 economic outlook yesterday where it projected that the U.S. housing market will perform similarly to the overall U.S. economy for the rest of 2011, with home sales above 2010’s pace by 3% to 5%.

Carrington Mortgage Services has been authorized as a Ginnie Mae issuer for the GNMA I and II single-family MBS program.

While the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remains uncertain, there are a number of things the two are doing to improve their operations and financial soundness, according to Patrick Lawler, chief economist and associate director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Bank of America is actively selling mortgage servicing rights and becoming more selective in placing MSRs on its books, company officials said Tuesday morning.

This legislation might as well be called "The Kick the Can Act" and for once, its backers aren't ashamed to admit it. In fact, they're damn proud of it. It's the whole point.

The residential finance division of Bank of America posted a stunning loss of $13 billion in the second quarter as delinquent mortgages, expected legal settlements and charges tied to 'reps and warranties' on loans sold into the secondary market hammered its performance.

A white paper released yesterday by the Milken Institute said the Federal government should allow other mortgage finance-related companies to compete with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on a level playing field. The GSEs should also move back into private hands, the paper argued.

Friday's European bank stress tests revealed that all securitization positions in European banking and trading books were stressed, according to market reports.

A new Trepp report showed that while the percentage of loans that paid off on their balloon date rose seven basis points to 42.2% in June, the rate is still struggling to recover after two consecutive months of decline.

MassMutual Asset Finance (MMAF) is marketing an equipment lease and loan ABS deal worth approximately $755.24 million. The 144A deal is sole managed by JPMorgan Securities.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California held a press conference last week to support the passage of Helping Responsible Homeowners Act, which aims to help non-delinquent, existing borrowers refinance at a lower rate through the elimination of Loan-Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs) and qualify borrowers with LTVs higher than 125%.