RMBS

Changes made late last year to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP 2.0, are finally starting to affect prepayment speeds for both conventional MBS and GNMAs, and more recent changes in the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance premium (MIP) are also creating uncertainty about the prepayment outlook.

The European Commission's interpretation of Basel III rules for requiring banks to hold enough liquid assets to meet cash-flow needs for up to 30 days initially penalized RMBS.

The latest wave of proposed European regulations on rating agencies, known as CRA3, contains a rule that has unsettled players from every corner of the financial market: enforced ratings rotation.

It's rare that a bank gets paid to be an acquirer.

QE3 got a shot in the arm as the week started with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech about recent labor market developments.

A federal judge rejected an attempt by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to compel Wells Fargo & Co. to comply with an administrative subpoena, ordering the agency and the bank to meet to resolve their dispute over documents related to the agency's investigation of nearly $60 billion of RMBS.

Former head of securitized products research at Credit Suisse Dale Westhoff will be shifting his responsibilities at the firm.

The enhancement levels for the new Credit Suisse prime RMBS deal called CSFB Mortgage Securities 2012-CIM1 are not enough to support a triple-A rating, Fitch Ratings said today.

Investors ramped up their purchases of single-family homes last year to a level not seen since 2007 — and only half of those buyers financed the purchase. Almost half (49%) paid cash, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Banc of Manhattan Capital, Woodland Hills, Calif., is taking bids on a $26 million pool of reperforming whole loans, servicing released.