RMBS

Santander U.K. is reportedly prepping its first U.K. RMBS for 2012 under the Holmes Master trust series.

Investors holding at least $800 million of secured bonds in Residential Capital Corp. (ResCap) have organized in the event the mortgage firm's parent company, Ally Financial, throws the company into bankruptcy.

The year may have started off quietly for European securitizations, but it exploded on the covered bond front.

Current management of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships is contributing to tight mortgage credit conditions, holding back a recovery in the housing market, according to a Federal Reserve Board official.

Conventional prepayments slowed as expected in December as a result of slightly lower refinancing activity in November. This was partially offset by an increase in the number of collection days to 21 from 20.

Albert Sohn, previously head of securitized products at Credit Suisse, will move into alternative investments in asset management at the bank. In his new position, Sohn will manage structured credit and residential real estate assets, according to an internal memo obtained by ASR.

The MBS sector was off to the races as 2012 trading got underway and participants returned from the year-end holiday break. Books opened back up while the supply/demand technical outlook appeared very favorable.

The November Mortgage Monitor report from Lender Processing Services (LPS) showed that mortgage delinquencies at the end of last November were close to 25% less versus the January 2010 peak.

PHH Corp., which this week ousted its CEO amid perceived liquidity concerns, may start selling some of its huge holdings of mortgage servicing rights, according to industry analysts.

Mortgage bankers funded $26.6 billion of Jumbo loans during the third quarter of 2011, a handsome 30% gain from the same period a year earlier, according to new survey figures compiled by ASR sister publication National Mortgage News (NMN) and the Quarterly Data Report.