ABS

Single-family housing starts fell slightly in March to an annualized rate of 531,000 units, but compared to the same month last year rose an impressive 47%.

DLA Piper hired Peter Darrow to be a partner in the law firm's New York corporate finance practice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) task force on hedge funds, buyout funds and mutual funds is looking to hire five fund managers, chief operating officers or executives with "direct exposure to trading and operations,"according to a help-wanted ad it placed last month. The SEC has also retained executive search firm Korn/Ferry International.

Swiss Re in Canada appointed Sharon Ludlow as CEO and head of its Canadian and English Caribbean operations, effective June 1.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a synthetic CDO backed by subprime mortgages.

Freddie Mac named Anthony Renzi to the newly created position of executive vice president of single-family portfolio management.

If the mortgage industry takes one lesson from the housing crisis to heart, it should be the danger in having loose definitions and broad classifications of loans.

Like others in the securitization and private placement markets, John Loofbourrow is paying close attention to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) proposed changes to disclosure regulations.

DoubleLine Funds Trust launched two open-end mutual funds: the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund and the DoubleLine Emerging Markets Fixed Income Fund.

Mortgage rates eased off last week's eight-month high with 30-year fixed mortgage rates falling 14 basis points to 5.07% with an average 0.6 point.

Wells Fargo had 523,336 active trial and completed loan modifications as of March 31. Modifications done outside of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) made up nearly 380,000 of that total.

GMAC Financial Services has promoted Jeffrey Lemieux, a former executive at Cerberus Capital, to the position of senior vice president of business lending sales in its mortgage division.

Mission Capital Advisors is now marketing two nonperforming CMBS loans with an aggregate outstanding balance of $50,719,954.

The Department of Treasury issued figures in its report on servicer performance for March 2010 that showed that there was a 15% increase in permanent Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications completed since February.

The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be holding public hearings this summer and fall to solicit advice from all stakeholders on the role the federal government should continue to play in the housing finance system and the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Congressional Oversight Panel released a report on Tuesday claiming the Treasury Department's new mortgage efforts are too late to have a meaningful impact.

Ginnie Mae will be allowing lenders to securitize single loans beginning in July, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Executives from the nation's four largest residential servicers told Congress on Tuesday that their firms will accept "proportional" modifications on second liens but only when a first mortgage is modified and the principal reduced in a similar fashion.

Europe continues to showcase a line of new prime ABS and this week added a new Spanish auto loan securitization to the mix.

Guy Carpenter & Co. appointed Chris McKeown as president and CEO of North America broking operations.