RMBS

The European securitization market remained open for business despite the looming threat the impending sovereign downgrades can have on deals.

HARP 2.0's first phase is now underway. Seller/servicers that control GSE MSRs appear to be in the best position when it comes to refinancing high LTV Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.The GSE regulator and Obama administration officials had hoped to make the process more competitive, allowing “new” seller/servicers to refinance loans controlled by others. But it now appears that servicer-against-servicer competition won't get under way until March when the GSEs get around to updating their automated underwriting systems to accommodate Home Affordable Refinancing Program revisions.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors (IMA), Denver, is auctioning off a $186 million bulk package of Ginnie Mae servicing rights.The seller's identity was not disclosed. A majority of the loans were funded in the mid-Atlantic and New England area and is heavily weighted toward New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

U.K. mortgage origination is unlikely to grow more than marginally next year thanks to economic uncertainty and steep borrowing costs faced by originating banks, according to a release by Standard & Poor's. As a result, the agency estimates that the volume of RMBS placed with investors in 2012 could hover around €45 billion ($60 billion), a hair over this year's figure.

Next year there will be a worsening of covered-bond issuer credit quality and a continued deterioration in the sovereingns' financial condition.

Fannie Mae recently told its seller/servicers that all mortgage insurance rescissions, cancellations and claim denials tied to loans it bought must be reported to the agency immediately.

CRE debt and equity provider CWCapital hired Todd Trehubenko as managing director in multifamily based in its Needham, MA office. The firm is a subsidiary of CW Financial Services.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has relaxed its collateral requirements for repo eligibility in a move that encourages new ABS activity.

Even with the housing market stabilizing and a settlement between megaservicers and state AGs on the horizon, the mortgage industry shouldn't expect an increase in originations next year, according to a new forecast from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW).

Arch Bay Capital, Irvine, Calif., is testing the use of borrower rewards for timely payment, with the aim of driving better performance, refinancing or modifications.