Finance

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opposes a 20% downpayment on low-risk mortgages. It will not use its special rule-writing powers to undermine the Dodd-Frank Act, director Richard Cordray told lawmakers Thursday.

Survey respondents also expect two important buyers of loans, CLOs and loan mutual funds, to boost their assets in 2013.

General Electric Capital Corp. is planning to issue a securitization under its GE Equipment Midticket LLC, Series 2012-1.

Freddie Mac, after being criticized by the Inspector General’s office of its regulator, has improved its mortgage buyback reviews and could recoup an additional $3.4 billion in damages.

MBS valuations can stay rich and tighten further based on the strong technical backdrop the announcement creates.

Citibank securitization analysts said in a report today that the global slowdown, Europe's debt crisis and the deteriorating U.S. economy have bolstered the ABS market's resolve to remain short and high quality.

The GSEs will continue to “maintain their own securitization operations and continue to issue their own securities,” the Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco said.

The outstanding dollar amount of subprime mortgage debt fell 10% in the second quarter to $374.8 billion as these nonconventional loans continue to “disappear” from servicing portfolios

Wells Fargo and Royal Bank of Scotland are planning to sell a CMBS called Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Trust 2012-LC5, according to an SEC filing yesterday.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates were unchanged at 3.55%, while 15-year rates slipped just one basis point to 2.85%.

S&P analysts expect the sector's volume will most likely meet their $10 billion full-year forecast, eclipsing 2011's $9.7 billion issuance volume.

Servicers that work on delinquent Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages are becoming more proficient at short sales, FHA said in a recent 3Q12 report to Congress.

The Federal Housing Administration is bracing for a large spike in insurance claim payments now that servicers have adjusted to the requirements of the $25 billion robo-signing settlement.

Partners Group has raised a €375 million ($480 million) fund that will invest in senior secured bank loans and make direct loans to midmarket companies, the firm said today.

A California judge upheld his own decision to whittle the government's claims against the firm's ex CEO Michael Perry.

Ambac set up the account in March 2010 to hold certain troubled liabilities. Because of Ambac Assurance's financial troubles, Ambac has not been paying claims on the segregated account.

The Italian Bank, UniCredit has made its first ABS tender offer since 2010 to repurchase up to €1bn ($1.28bn) of its Italian RMBS and lease ABS bonds.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported mortgage application activity rose 11.1% in the week ending Sept. 7. Adjusted for the Labor Day holiday, the Refinance Index surged 12% to ~4723, while the Purchase Index gained 8% to 193.

Fitch Ratings assigned an 'F1sf' rating to the asset backed commercial paper issued by Windmill Funding Corporation, a partially supported multi-seller ABCP conduit sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland.