RMBS

Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is pressing the GSE regulator to adopt several changes to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP), allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance more underwater borrowers.

Freddie Mac purchased $21.7 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in July, its worst acquisition month of the year and only about half of what it bought in January.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is being inundated by member complaints about the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) policy decision to extend the forbearance period for unemployed homeowners to 12 months.

A roughly seven basis point increase in 30-year weekly rates and gains in bond yields from recent record lows could dampen refinancing applications a bit unless they motivate a significant group of fence-sitting borrowers to act.

American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP), New York, said it expects its initial public offering to close on Sept. 6, with trading of the company's common stock to start the following day on the NASDAQ Capital Market, that exchange's tier for small cap stocks.

Sales of homes that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned status accounted for 31% of all residential transactions in the second quarter, a slight decline from 1Q11, according to new figures released by RealtyTrac.

In an ironic twist, the commercial banking industry is coming to the defense of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The recent sell-off pushed mortgage rates higher by seven to eight basis points for the week ending Aug. 25.

Bank of America has reached an agreement to sell 50,000 shares to Berkshire Hathaway in a private offering.

In November of 2009, Charles Taylor, director of the Pew Financial Reform Project, wrote a letter to the editor of Financial Times advocating higher capital requirements for banks.