RMBS

A federal judge last week directed National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to begin negotiations aimed at settling NCUA’s $629 million claims over the failure of WesCorp Federal Corporate Union, one of five suits NCUA has filed against Wall Street banks over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities to corporate credit unions.

A funny thing happened on the way to the mortgage correction: while residential debt outstanding has been declining steadily for well over a year, subservicing contracts have increased – handsomely.

Members of a House Financial Services subcommittee are at odds over how to address conflict of interest issues involving the servicing of first and second mortgages.

Fitch Ratings said today that its outlook for both FFELP and private SLABS is negative. The rating agency expects both sectors to remain in the headlines in 2012.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, told investors at the beginning of 2011 that potential repurchases of private-label mortgage securities are "not that material" for his bank — an assertion that increasingly appears to be in doubt.

The Senate over the weekend added a guarantee fee increase for Ginnie Mae MBS to the payroll tax bill, passing the measure by an overwhelming margin of 89-10.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) hired Christopher Moroz and Michael Giasi to its fixed-income team, expanding KBCM's MBS capabilities.

Nevada's attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed civil fraud charges against Lender Processing Services and two subsidiaries alleging the company engaged in a widespread fraud of forging foreclosure documents.

The Houston-based law firm Gibbs & Burns, which was behind the Bank of America $8.5 billion MBS settlement, said today that it is representing investors looking to settle a claim against JPMorgan.

The week in mortgages was described as "slow", "light", "exhausted", and "apathetic". This statement is supported by Tradeweb's volume which averaged 87% for the week through Thursday, down further from even last week's limited 93%.