RMBS

U.S. District Judge William Pauley set a Sept. 21 hearing to consider requests from some investors to move the case against Bank of America Corp.'s $8.5 billion settlement to the Manhattan federal court from a New York state court, according to a Reuters report.

The Federal Reserve Board said it plans a formal enforcement action against the Goldman Sachs Group and Goldman Sachs Bank USA.

HSH Nordbank has filed a suit in the New York state court against JPMorgan Chase over losses on $159 million RMBS it purchased from the bank, according to a Reuters report.

With the private-label mortgage market virtually nonexistent and the GSEs in trouble, Ginnie Mae has come to the forefront to fill the void that these other sources of credit have left.

Volatility in the capital markets has pushed industry participants towards safe-haven assets such as covered bonds.

The recent focus on the economy and the jobless rate has, in the popular press, pushed the housing market from the front pages of the mainstream press. The continued weakness in the housing markets, however, is a major factor in the sapping of consumer confidence and the resulting lack of a robust rebound. While housing and mortgage lending remains entangled in a seemingly intractable web of investigations, negotiations and unimplemented regulations, an important short-term goal should be to make headway against the huge backlog of nonperforming loans.

Having proven their mettle in crisis conditions, covered bonds are gaining popularity outside their traditional enclave of continental Europe. A number of emerging markets are looking into the product, and a few have recently made concrete moves. Turkey, for instance, saw its first covered bond a couple of months ago.

It's been a brutal time for executives in structured finance departments across Wall Street since the 2008 financial crisis.

As part of its ongoing efforts to better align the interests of participants in the RMBS market and address the issue of risk retention, the Asset Securitization Forum (ASF) has come out with some guidelines relating to the repurchase of RMBS.

Objections continue to mount against Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with 22 major holders of Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage-backed securities.