RMBS

The U.S. Treasury may have to shell out an additional $73 billion to $215 billion to keep the capital positions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from going negative, according to new loss projections released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) expressed its support for the portion of the Dodd-Frank Act that addressed conflicts of interest in securitization in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today.

Freddie Mac reported a two-basis-point increase from record low levels in fixed-rate mortgages, while adjustable rate mortgage rates moved to new record lows. This was the first increase in five weeks.

Regulators took their first step this week toward drafting new rules that would require lenders to retain some risk before selling loans into the secondary market.

Industry veteran Tom Wind, who has headed such mortgage powerhouses as Chase Home Finance and Aurora Loan Services (ALS), has been named managing director of J.I. Kislak Mortgage, Miami Lakes, Fla.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a report yesterday on the potential effect of credit risk retention requirements on securitization.

The Brazilian Finance Ministry’s recent hike of the IOF tax on foreign investment into fixed income investments to 6% from 4% is bound to have some kind of impact on the appetite of overseas money for local securitization products. The increase comes after a 2 percentage point hike earlier this month.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) started a review of several Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage servicers during the summer, discovering what it calls "significant differences" in the way they handle defaulted borrowers in the loss mitigation process.

Issuer panelists at today's gathering called Covered Bonds — The Americas said that the sector has provided them with a good source of funding diversity.

Mortgage application activity declined in the week ending Oct. 15 as mortgage rates backed up, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly report.