RMBS

The Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC) said today that it will open up a public comment period on the new rules presented under the Dodd-Frank Reform Bill. This will before the official comment periods have started.

PHH Corp. has named Smriti Laxman Popenoe as executive vice president and chief risk officer effective Sep. 13. Popenoe will be responsible for the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide risk framework and will work with the firm’s business units to identify, effectively manage and mitigate credit, market and operational risks.

A fight is brewing between regulators and Congress over how to develop a covered bond market, with the latest salvo expected to be fired as soon as Tuesday, when the House Financial Services Committee could begin voting on a bill tackling the issue.

House and Senate committees have approved the Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD) appropriation bills that extend the $729,750 loan limit through September 2011.

REIT The Carson Cos. has formed Carson Advisors. The new unit was created to partner and invest with public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and high net worth investors.

It will take five years to turn the new federal financial reform law into rules and regulation, an industry expert from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) said last week.

Five of Spain's smaller regional lenders, known as cajas, were among the seven banks to fail the European Union stress test.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said that U.S. housing policy, with its reliance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is "not sustainable."

Lewis Ranieri, the co-inventor of MBS, believes the yield on the 10-year Treasury could fall to as low as 2.5% this year.

Some European market players said that there is increasing appetite by outside buyers for European ABS.