RMBS

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) urged a federal judge here last week not to dismiss its claims against underwriters of more than $1 billion of MBS sold to WesCorp Federal Credit Union, as the regulator’s numerous legal claims in the corporate credit union failures appear to be slipping away.

Recent changes to a special GSE refinancing program have been in effect for just six weeks, but lenders are already concerned that Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) 2.0 will fall short of its goal of helping one million homeowners saddled with high LTV loans.

Citigroup repurchased 6,800 residential loans in 2011, an 80% jump from 2010 with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounting for the lion's share of those buybacks, according to figures released Tuesday.

Among the ramifications of paying for the tax cut extension by hiking agency guarantee fees in April could be upward pressure on consumer rates and an improvement in MBS prepayments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the investment advisory arm of UBS with failing to properly price securities in three mutual funds that it managed.

Some banks might be skittish about selling nonperforming loans in bulk, but the market clearly likes it when banks shed problems en masse.

An increase in late-stage arrears for prime Dutch RMBS is causing a build-up in potential foreclosure stock. However, a stall in the foreclosure process for these transactions will continue to pressure their collateral performance, according to a Fitch Ratings report.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York may be looking to resume sales from it Maiden Lane II portfolio, according to several market reports.

Mortgages continued to perform well through the second week of the New Year despite 10-year note yields declining below 1.90% (to 1.857% Friday morning) on continued uneasiness associated with Europe.

JPMorgan Chase suffered a residential repurchase loss of $390 million in the fourth quarter, a 17% increase from the year earlier period, and a sign that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other secondary market investors are not easing up on their buyback demands.