RMBS

For the week ending Nov. 25, mortgage application activity plunged 11.7%, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The results were adjusted for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said this afternoon if filed another suit against a big investment firm over the sale of MBS to failed corporate credit unions, this one naming defunct Wachovia Bank and its subsidiaries as defendants.

United Guaranty (UGI) has decided to increase its participation in the newly revised Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP), issuing new guidance to servicers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.

Roughly 22.1% of all residential properties – 10.7 million units — encumbered by a mortgage were in a negative equity position at the end of September, a slight decline from mid-year, according to new figures compiled by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) repeatedly defers to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without independently testing their decisions, according to a report released Tuesday by a government watchdog.

Investors are going to face a shortage of very high quality short-end paper. This is because there is much less being issued than will be maturing through the end of next year, Amherst Securities Group (ASG) said in a report released late yesterday.

Guggenheim Partners affiliate Pillar Multifamily has agreed to buy Fannie Mae-eligible loans sourced by Tremont Realty Capital under a correspondent agreement between the two companies.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a proposal Tuesday that would remove references to credit ratings from its regulations, and posted guidance to help banks evaluate investment risks.The Dodd-Frank Act requires federal agencies to review regulations that required banks to use credit ratings to asses the creditworthiness of a security or money market instrument. Under the law, regulators must modify the rules to remove the references to credit ratings, and substitute them with an alternative standard.

Santander U.K. is planning a new securitization backed by a pool of prime residential mortgages out of the bank's Fosse Master Trust structure.

The Bank of Ireland has offered to buy back up its Kildare and Brunel securitizations at between 28% and 88% of par. It stated that the move would reduce its regulatory capital by up to €300 million ($400 million).