RMBS

The European sovereign debt crisis that continued unfolding in December led to downgrades of the sovereign ratings of Portugal, Greece and Ireland.

Spanish bank Grupo Santander has agreed to purchase a $2 billion Mexican mortgage portfolio from General Electric Co.'s finance division for $162 million plus the assumption of debt, according to Dow Jones.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report Wednesday analyzed various proposals for housing finance reform, saying "the weaknesses inherent in the pre-crisis model may argue against returning to that model."

The idea that the interests of troubled homeowners and mortgage investors are aligned — and that they conflict with those of loan servicers — is gaining momentum.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) finalized three rules on Wednesday, including one that requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the size of their portfolios.

Residential foreclosures have been rising for the past six months and will continue to accelerate in 2011, according to CoreLogic analysts.

CoreLogic, as part of its plan to concentrate on its real estate and mortgage information businesses, will sell its employer services and litigation support businesses to Symphony Technology Group.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded $1.7 billion in Washington Mutual-issued securities backed by first-lien, Alt-A credit, payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages with negative amortization.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded MBIA and its two principal bond insurer subsidiaries on Wednesday, citing new methodologies for assessing RMBS.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded MBIA and its two principal bond insurer subsidiaries on Wednesday, citing new methodologies for assessing RMBS.