Finance

Freddie Mac reported a 17% jump in refinancing volume from July to August and another monthly decline in single-family delinquencies.

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is trying to secure a one-year extension of the $729,750 GSE loan limit in a continuing resolution the Senate is expected to pass next week.

Oklahoma Student Loan Authority 2010 (OSLA 2010) is in the market with a $232 million FFELP-backed student loan deal. The three-tranche SLABS is managed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Mortgage servicers signed off on 33,300 permanent HAMP modifications in August — the lowest number of completed restructurings since December 2009 when the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program was just getting off the ground.

After plunging 27% in July, sales of existing single-family homes rebounded 7.4% in August as buyers took advantage of historically low mortgage rates and affordable prices.

Primus Guaranty has entered into a binding letter of intent to sell its third-party asset management unit CypressTree Investment Management to Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. (CIFC). The deal's terms were not disclosed.

The Collingwood Group has appointed of Mary Lou Christy as senior vice president. Before Collingwood, Christy was senior vice president of investor relations for Fannie Mae. In her 24-year career at the GSE, she also led the MBS trading desk, and was vice president of sales and marketing in the southwestern region.

Bank of America has decided to merge its Home Loan Services (HLS) affiliate in Pittsburgh, a subprime specialty servicer, into its main servicing operation.

House Republicans blasted the proposed Basel III capital standards on Wednesday, arguing the plan would make the system more uncertain without making it substantially more safe.

Both 30- and 15-year fixed mortgage rates were unchanged in the week ending Sept. 23 at 4.37% and 3.82%, respectively, according to the Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market

Evidence of sloppy mortgage servicing practices should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the industry during the foreclosure crisis.

On the heels of deals from Toyota Motor Credit Corp. and Chrysler Financial Corp., Consumer Portfolio Services is also coming to market with a $94.5 million auto ABS. The deal, which is managed by Citigroup Global Markets, is comprised of five tranches.

Moody’s Investors Service analysts said that they expect rehabilitated FFELP SLABs pools to experience a higher net loss rate versus pools of non-rehabilitated FFELP loans.

The Capital Markets Cooperative (CMC) has formed a strategic partnership with with WL Ross & Co.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Wednesday said the U.S. would implement proposed international capital rules aimed at helping financial institutions withstand future crises by 2012.

Responding to market demand, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is now offering a newly modified version of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) product that requires lower upfront premiums.

Herb Allison, the head of the government's $700 billion financial bailout program, said Wednesday morning that he is leaving the Treasury Department at month's end.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will officially begin implementing its new resolution authority for systemically important firms on Monday.

Mortgage application activity slipped 1.4% in the week ending Sept. 17. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the Refinance Index declined 0.9% to ~4356.

Keith Danko has joined hedge fund firm Titan Capital Group as partner, the New York-based alternative manager announced today.