RMBS

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates for the first time in almost three years last week. It is a widely anticipated quarter-point rate increase to 1.25% and is likely to be followed by consecutive increases this year.

Mortgage originations at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) dropped 29% since the end of 2010, kicking off a year where industrywide originations are projected to drop below $1 trillion.

Federal banking regulators Wednesday afternoon dropped their regulatory "bomb" on the nation's largest residential servicers — and two of their top outside vendors — accusing the firms of a "pattern of negligence and misconduct" tied to the processing of loans.

Mortgage application activity declined 6.7% for the week ending April 8 as mortgage rates inched higher.

The investment banking firm Sandler O’Neill & Partners added a team of five sales professionals to its Chicago-based, fixed-income group.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller blasted a study Tuesday that said proposed servicer settlement terms could cost the economy $10 billion a year. Miller, who is leading the settlement on behalf of the attorneys general, said the study was "grossly inaccurate," and noted it was paid for by the financial services industry, including some of the servicers involved in talks with the AGs.

A year ago, the folks who worked in Freddie Mac's multi-family section were sitting around waiting for the phones to ring. Now they can't keep up.

Despite the economic recovery, demand for single-family housing is declining while the need for rental apartments is rising, according to speakers at an Urban Land Institute conference in Washington.

Putnam Investments plans to launch a new REIT to primarily buy RMBS guaranteed by a U.S. government agency or a GSE.

Australian deposit-taking institutions are likely to issue covered bonds once proposed legislation is enacted, according to a recent report by Standard & Poor’s. The agency added that the highest rated and larger originators are most apt to float these deals.