RMBS

FBR Capital Markets, a 21-year-old investment bank hobbled during the financial crisis by a bloated cost structure and ties to a mortgage REIT, seems to be making all of the right moves. But it is still waiting for them to pay off.

Ally Financial has agreed to pay Fannie Mae $462 million to settle repurchase demands for breaches of representations and warranties related to whole loans and private-label securities the lender sold the GSE.

Home prices fell in October for the third month in a row and it appears the housing market is headed for a double dip, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller house price index.

The November Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) showed that the volume of loans moving to REO is still dropping with the moratoria further delaying foreclosure sales.

Stagnant insurance laws that don’t allow for needed innovation are preventing a revival of the bond insurance industry, according to executives from the BondFactor Co. start-up.

The release of the December ABX remittance reports showed default rates on each index down on the month, with the exception of the 07-2 index, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

The recent whipsaw action in rates that hit some players has helped validate the need for proper hedging.

The robo-signing fiasco also has energized overall fraud prevention and management efforts, prompting financial service providers to focus on short sales and foreclosure fraud.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) released its 2011 predictions for the U.K. mortgage market. It expects the U.K. to avoid a double-dip recession.

The Federal Reserve Board is revising an interim final rule it approved in September to make changes to the disclosures required for interest-only, payment-option and 5/1 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages.