ABS

The Obama administration continued to push its priorities Thursday on what provisions should be included in the final regulatory reform bill.

The condition and performance of half the Federal Home Loan Bank system is "less than adequate," according to the nation's GSE regulator.

Fannie is putting mortgage lenders in a Catch-22 with its "loan quality initiative," which takes effect June 1.

There has been some confusion over first-quarter figures at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. But one thing is indisputable: the mortgage market is still on government life support.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers will continue to face extra charges called "loan level price adjustments" which compensate the GSEs for buying certain non-vanilla mortgages.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is offering a $98 million pool of loans to investors, according to market sources.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) named Bill Killmer as senior vice president of legislative and political affairs effective July 5.

Swiss Re Capital Markets completed a $150 million of insurance linked securities issued by Blue Fin Ltd. The structure covers U.S. hurricane and earthquake risk.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed stricter rules that would require banks and other lenders to price their loans at their current market value.

The battle over an amendment to establish minimum capital requirements in the regulatory reform bill is the result of a long-standing feud between the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board.

The average FICO score on single-family loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now stands at 750--up from 715 on purchases during 2006 and 2007, the two years that account for most of the GSEs' credit losses.

Zipcar has completed a $70 million ABS program led by Credit Agricole.

Commercial real estate (CRE) loan portfolios are turning out to a good investment for buyers attracted to the current appraisals on these assets.

For U.S. bankers, it is easy to ignore the London interbank offered rate when times are good. Now is not one of those times.

Fitch Ratings said that its latest European fixed-income investor survey clearly captures rising worries about the eurozone. The results of the quarterly survey, which was conducted in April, are published today.

US-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (SNR) and U.K.-based Denton Wilde Sapte have agreed to combine forces, subject to a partnership vote on June 9.

Fred Terrell has rejoined Credit Suisse as vice chairman of investment banking, effective next week. Terrell will report to Jim Amine , managing director and co-head of the global investment banking department.

Markit has extended the range of instruments covered by its Portfolio Valuations service to include structured products.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say the declining condition of commercial properties is one of the biggest challenges facing multifamily servicers today.

Mission Capital Advisors said it is accepting bids for a commercial real estate mortgage loan portfolio with an outstanding balance of $500 million.