RMBS

The Federal banking regulators started leaking their mortgage risk retention rules yesterday afternoon.

One of the most important pieces of the Dodd-Frank Act is set to start falling into place Tuesday as regulators offer a plan that would establish stringent underwriting standards for most mortgages, provide limited new rules for servicers, and detail how institutions must retain some risk of loans they intend to sell to the secondary market.

Walter Investment Management Corp. on Monday agreed to buy Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul — a specialty servicer — and its parent company in a deal valued at just over $1 billion.However, the buyer is putting up very little in the way of cash. To complete the purchase, Walter Investment will issue 1.8 million shares of common stock to the seller, assume $20 million of existing Green Tree debt, and issue $765 million of new debt.

The drive to reform the GSEs is raising two questions that could fundamentally reshape the way borrowers obtain mortgages: will a revamp effectively eliminate the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and would that be a good thing?

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) last week indicated it would proceed with litigation against major Wall Street financial institutions unless some $50 billion in MBS are refunded.

Pending home sales climbed 2.1% to a reading of 90.8 in February, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Four states are considering legislation that would prohibit or restrict appraisers from using distressed sales, such as those of foreclosed properties, as comparable sales when assessing the value of a home.

K&L Gates hired Howard Goldwasser and Xavier Ruiz for its New York office as partners in the finance and corporate practices, respectively.

KGS-Alpha Capital Markets hired Mark Noble as head of structured corporate and agency debt and Jim Tymeck as the new head of the finance desk.

Clayton Holdings formed an independent financial analysis and consulting group and hired a team of structured finance professionals based in New York City to run the practice.