ABS

Ambac Financial Group Monday announced a major loss to shareholders in the first quarter as a result of new accounting rules that required the company to include off-balance sheet activities.

BNP Paribas purchased Hill Street Capital, which is an investment banking boutique formed in 2001 by John Brim and Lorenzo Weisman.

First Capital recently completed a 3.5 year, $100 million term securitization via a Rule 144A private placement. The transaction closed on March 31.

Sallie Mae is interested in buying student lenders that are facing the end of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), according to a Dow Jones report. This was announced at an investor conference held on Wednesday, the report said.

Residential delinquencies climbed to yet another new high at March 31 with 10.06% of all mortgagors behind on their payments, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Overall mortgage application activity slipped 1.5% in the week ending May 14 as gains in refinancing were more than offset by a plunge in purchases.

Bank of America has filed and S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to possibly issue a credit card ABS via its BA Credit Card Trust.

Wells Fargo Securities has Manish Peshawaria and Bob Rosmanwas for its European ABS unit, ASR has confirmed.

Ginnie Mae issuers repurchased $15.5 billion of delinquent government-guaranteed mortgages out of MBS pools in the first quarter — a significant decline from the prior period. In 4Q buybacks approached a staggering $57.6 billion.

RBS Securities has hired a portfolio manager from Alliance Bernstein and two analysts from Cantor Fitzgerald to serve on its credit strategy team within its global banking and markets division.

Single-family housing starts jumped 10% in April as builders rushed to meet demand from buyers seeking to take advantage of the expiring Federal homebuyer tax credit.

Just days after the surprise passage of an amendment to regulate interchange, bankers are bracing for the possible addition of an even stronger measure that would hold them to the interest rate limit in the cardholder's state.

Moody's Investors Service Managing Director Mark DiRienz is joining the commercial group at the rating agency, leaving his post as the managing director of the ABS team in the structured finance group (SFG).

New York Mortgage Trust closed its investment of up to $750,000 in senior secured notes issued by New Bridger Holdings the parent company of Bridger Commercial Funding.

CRE Finance Council has hired Michael Flood as vice president of policy and research.

Bank of America completed more permanent Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) loan modifications in April than CitiMortgage, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo combined.

Auto deals are filling up the pipeline. Both Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. and Santander Consumer USA are in the market with deals from the sector.

Bank of America completed 23,500 permanent Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications in April, almost double what it processed the previous month.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded $2.2 billion of securities backed by Alt-A mortgages issued in 2005 by Residential Funding Co., a unit of what is now Ally Financial.

In the United Kingdom, purchase mortgages have continued their year-to-year rise for the ninth consecutive month, according to a London-based industry trade group.