RMBS

Obama administration officials have identified several constraints on the HARP program – including mortgage buyback risk – that are keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers from refinancing underwater borrowers.

MGIC is in discussions to sell its eMagic unit as well as its Myers Internet business, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

Although President Obama Thursday night made a slight reference to a government-backed refi plan for troubled mortgagors, the effort appears to be temporarily stalled over concerns about what effect it would have on both MBS investors and the megabanks, according to advisors and trade group sources who claim to have knowledge of the program.

Fitch Ratings submitted its comment letter in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Solicitation of Comment to Assist in Study on Assigned Credit Ratings, which is required by Section 939F of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week issued a concept release that reexamines the ability of REITs to use an exclusion under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Bond insurer Assured Guaranty has a bone to pick with Standard & Poor's over the rating agency's new bond insurance rating criteria.

The massive lawsuits that the federal government brought last week against many of the largest U.S. and global banks underscore the deepening tension within the executive branch with regard to housing.

Ginnie Mae president Ted Tozer has a problem and it goes like this: over the past 18 months the agency has approved 60 new firms to issue government-backed MBS, but few are actually issuing.

Freddie Mac said it will not dramatically discount its backlog of foreclosed homes, arguing that such steep price cuts could destroy the housing market.