RMBS

Jay Hohman has landed a position as managing director at Cohen & Company Capital Markets.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has critical lending programs for homebuyers, particularly first-timers, but will have to stop endorsing new mortgages if Congress cannot agree on a budget deal with the White House by midnight Friday and the federal government is forced to shutdown.

Delinquency rates on closed-end home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) showed little improvement in the fourth quarter compared to the third, according to new figures released by the American Bankers Association (ABA).

The number of completed foreclosures fell by nearly 50% from the third to the fourth quarters as servicers came under pressure from state and federal regulators to correct their foreclosures processes and agree to a civil settlement.

The first bid list for the Maiden Lane II portfolio has begun to circulate, according to market reports. The sale is the first since the Federal Reserve rejected AIG’s offer to repurchase the securities for $15.7 billion.

REITs delivered their first-quarter gains in spite of slightly negative returns in March. The FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was down 1.28% in the month, and the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was down 1.38%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.04%.

Federal banking regulators are set to release new guidelines Monday that they hope will restore the battered reputation of risk models — widely disparaged as a result of the financial crisis — by forcing banks to improve how they design and implement them.

To clear up mortgage ownership issues quickly, banks and servicers should set up a multi-billion dollar fund to pay homeowners who are willing to accept their ownership of the mortgage note, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) chairman Sheila Bair.

When it comes to the business of mortgage servicing now may not look like the best time to jump in.

Banca Popolare Vicenza has mandated UniCredit Bank, JPMorgan, the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS as joint leads for its upcoming BERICA 9 prime Italian RMBS transaction.