ABS

Mortgage application activity dropped nearly 10% in the week ending April 9 with both refinancing and purchase activity declining.

Aside from Mercedez Benz, BMW is also in the market with an auto deal. The $750 million offering is lead managed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

At least two bidders still have an interest in buying National City's warehouse lending group from PNC Financial Services, but time is running out on the unit, according to sources close to the situation.

JPMorgan Chase is working on in-house, targeted principal reduction programs but has strong reservations about the government's efforts to develop a large-scale, broad-based principal reduction program for first and second mortgages.

Not only has Redwood Trust purchased jumbo loans for a planned nonagency MBS, but is actively shopping the mortgages to rating agencies, according to officials familiar with the company's plans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s(FDIC) board of directors approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) revising the deposit insurance assessment system for large institutions.

Although Sukuk or Islamic bond global issuance for 2010 is expected to be in line with last year's volumes, the sector could experience a boost from a number of legislative and regulatory developments happening over the next few years, a Moody's Investors Service Report said.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has told 50 leading bond mutual fund companies to remove credit ratings on their holdings from advertisements, marketing materials and Web sites.

As the Senate prepares to debate regulatory reform legislation, Sen. Carl Levin is using the failed Washington Mutual as evidence that the bill's most contentious provisions are necessary.

John Vella, executive vice president of portfolio servicing strategies for Residential Capital Corp. (ResCap), has resigned from the company, effective immediately, according to a memo provided to National Mortgage News.

Loan Value Group named Craig Lipsay as managing partner. In his new role, Lipsay will work directly with institutional clients to implement Loan Value Group's Responsible Homeowner Reward, a program that offers cash payments to eligible homeowners affected by negative equity, but who remain current on their mortgages.

NewOak Capital appointed Chad Burhance as managing director and head of NewOak Solutions, which provides portfolio risk analytics, credit, and advisory service to institutional investors globally.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) named Gail Cardwell as senior vice president of commercial/multifamily.

Deutsche Bank formed Deutsche Gulf Finance, a joint venture Shariah-compliant home financing firm owned 40% by the bank’s Riyadh Branch and 60% by a group of Saudi-based buyers led by Fahad Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Rajhi.

Meridian Capital Group, one of the nation's largest commercial real estate mortgage brokerage firms, has hired industry veteran Marty Lanigan as senior managing director of origination and strategic initiatives.

The mortgage servicing industry should brace itself for a continued wave of redefaults on modified loans, according to Diane Pendley, managing director at Fitch Ratings.

The roughly $12 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) moved last week to solicit proposals for a newly approved MBS fixed-income mandate.

Former GSE regulator James Lockhart is blaming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for encouraging poor underwriting standards during the housing bubble by not aggressively forcing their seller/servicers to buy back bad loans.

If knowledge is power, lenders are becoming more powerful.

Underscoring how important sales and people skills have become for loss mitigation, Bank of America Corp.'s home mortgage unit now has 660 originators working on loan modifications, an executive said.