Finance

The more than $113 billion New York City Pension Funds have been granted right of passage by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to present a foreclosure request on big bank shareholder ballots.

Four state attorneys general have sent a letter to Iowa AG Tom Miller objecting to provisions of the 27-page proposed settlement with the top five servicers.

In a recent report, Fitch Ratings said that risks inherent in Brazilian multi-seller/multi-obligor ABS have become more heightened in recent deals backed by factoring company receivables. Generally, factoring companies in Brazil are privately held businesses that buy trade receivables from a variety of companies at a discount.

New home sales fell 17% in February to the lowest level on record with cancellations ticking up again as buyers continue to deal with tighter mortgage underwriting standards.

In a new forecast on the housing market, Fannie Mae economists remain cautious about demand citing "consumer uncertainty" which will translate into declining originations.

Fitch Ratings’ review of 1,246 rated subprime RMBS issued between 1993 and 2008 shows that, on average, losses are relatively stable and expected defaults are still improving, but continuing housing market weakness and foreclosure delays are still driving expected loss severities higher.

The consolidation of AT&T and T-Mobile USA could lead to a decline in cell tower revenues generated from site leases. This could have cash-flow implications for wireless tower ABS bonds.

Aegon Levensverzekering N.V. is in the market with a €1.5 million Dutch RMBS from its Saecure securitization program.

SunTrust Banks late Tuesday named Jerome Lienhard president and chief executive officer of its mortgage division, the nation's 11th largest originator of residential loans.

The 11 banks contesting MBIA’s February 2009 restructuring have long said the regulatory process allowing the move was based on outdated and inaccurate financial information. Now, they have evidence.

Mortgage application activity increased 2.7% for the week ending March 18 in response to attractive mortgage rate levels.

Brazilian securitization consultancy Uqbar said in a report that 2010 issuance of CRIs, the main vehicle for real estate securitization in the country, hit R$8.53 billion ($5.1 billion) last year (see chart below). This was more than double the figure for 2009.

Northern Rock said it is launching its first public securitization issue, which is in line with its agreed strategy. This transaction will diversify both the source and term of its funding base, and will be offered to investors in sterling and euros.

Forthcoming regulations could make conventional mortgages more expensive to the wide swath of homebuyers and owners who can't put 20% down, depressing originations and potentially undermining the housing recovery.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is expected to hit the Street Thursday with an offering of $1.5 billion of NCUA Guaranteed Notes being used to finance the corporate credit union bailout, the first offering in three weeks.

Moody's Investors Service would like to hear from market participants regarding proposed changes to its modeling framework for cash-flow CLOs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is going to allocate half its budget to supervision and enforcement of consumer protection laws with a strong emphasis on non-bank lenders. "We can't enforce the law only against banks that are the easiest to find," said Elizabeth Warren, the leader of Treasury Department's CFPB implementation team. "Instead, we will build a strong enforcement arm that will for the first time ever put significant federal resources behind ensuring compliance by non-bank financial companies."

Commercial real estate services company Grubb & Ellis has hired JMP Securities as an advisor to explore strategic alternatives for the company, including a sale or merger.

Kondaur Capital Corp., which a month ago slashed its loan workout staff by almost 40%, on Tuesday announced that it hired Mark Ferrara as managing director of its newly formed community banking group.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said Tuesday it plans to consider the risk retention proposal at its next meeting on March 29.