RMBS

The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has helped more than 500,000 struggling borrowers with a median annual income of $46,000 remain in their homes, according to the Treasury Department, which found itself defending the program this week.

Mortgage application activity declined 6.5% in the week ending Feb. 25 with both refinancing and purchase activity lower — despite a decline in mortgage rates.

Redwood Trust on Tuesday closed its second Jumbo MBS deal within 10 months, boasting that the economics on the transaction support private-sector financing of prime mortgages at rates within 0.5% of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac instruments.

Banking regulators took a critical step forward on Tuesday to establishing national mortgage servicing standards by cutting a deal to include some new rules as part of a related risk retention proposal.

Goldman Sachs said in regulatory paperwork filed on Monday that it could lose about $3.43 billion as a result of judicial, regulatory and arbitration proceedings launched against the firm over the last decade.

The Obama administration has gained plaudits from even conservative critics by calling for the dismantling of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

After months of infighting, the federal banking agencies have reached an agreement on risk retention standards that would include some new rules for servicers, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The excesses in mortgage lending happened primarily in the private market in 2004 when the GSEs lost market share to banks, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts on a teleconference on housing reform.

PIMCO this week launched its Select U.K. Income Bond Fund that will invest in high-quality instruments across a broad range of fixed income sectors.

Federal regulators have drafted a 'qualified residential mortgage' (QRM) rule that mandates a 20% downpayment for such loans while leaving mortgage insurance totally out of the equation — a move that could prolong the housing recession in several states and decimate the mortgage insurance industry.