Finance

Mayer Brown has hired Barbara Goodstein as a partner in the banking and finance practice in New York. She was formerly a partner with Dewey & LeBoeuf.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has sold the entirety of the TRIAXX CDO holdings from its Maiden Lane III portfolio to Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith after a competitive bid process.

Freddie Mac reported new lows on 30- and 15-year fixed mortgage rates for the week ending May 10. The 30-year fixed slipped one basis point to 3.83% while 15s were two basis points lower to 3.05%.

Zipcar has renewed its ABS program with Credit Agricole. The program was first announced in May 2010 and extended in May 2011.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg will be delivering the keynote address at the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) annual meeting.

Decisions such as the definitions for qualified mortgage and qualified residential mortgage are being made in isolation that will have unintended consequences when they are rolled out, such as limiting competition between private mortgage insurers and the Federal Housing Administration, an executive with Genworth Mortgage Insurance told attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

SpringLeaf Finance Corp., which is partly controlled by the U.S. government, has entered into another round of layoffs, and may have to file for bankruptcy protection, according to industry advisors close to the company.

Industry vendor CoreLogic has decided to close its appraisal management company in Danvers, Mass., according to a memo obtained by ASR's sister publication National Mortgage News.

Moody's Investors Service will rate the new U.K. RMBS deal issued from Santander U.K.'s Fosse Master trust.

Forget credit cards or mortgages. Mike Slocum wants to offer you a loan against your new jail cell door.

On Tuesday, the New York state court hearing the $8.5bn Countrywide settlement case said it will limit the number of loan files to be requested from Countrywide to between 150 and 500.

Bill King joined Carrington Holding Co. as its chief investment officer and head of asset and risk management.

Mortgage application activity recorded a modest 1.7% increase in the week ending May 4 as mortgage rates set new historical lows.

A suit that started with over a dozen plaintiffs against MBIA is down to two after Natixis Financial Products withdrew from the suit Monday.

One of the architects of the $26 billion settlement with five major servicers expects some borrowers will see the principal balance of their mortgages reduced by over $100,000.

The first bulk sale of 2,500 Fannie Mae REO properties will sell at a discount to single assets, but has the potential to drive prices up after the first $10 billion to $20 billion in foreclosed homes are sold to institutional investors and converted to rentals, according to the Amherst Securities Group (ASG).

Lenders, for the first time, are facing the possibility of paying "actual damages" as a result of the “qualified mortgage” (QM) definition, an attorney warned attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

Mortgage originations will fall to their lowest level in five years in 2012, according to the latest forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Moody's Investors Service has updated its structured finance CDO methodology. These deals' ratings consider the credit assessments of non-Moody's rated assets that are inferred from the ratings given by other rating agencies.

Freddie Mac released the results of its 1Q12 refinance analysis. The study showed that homeowners who refinance are still strengthening their fiscal position.