ABS

Besides intensifying the "too big to fail" problem, one side effect of the raft of failures and crisis-driven acquisitions has been the thinning out of competition across a range of financial services markets.

Long criticized for their excessive leverage, the balance sheets at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will explode this quarter as they account for mortgage loans worth trillions.

Sales of existing single-family homes fell 17% in December to an annualized rate of 5.45 million units with distressed purchases accounting for almost one-third of the activity, according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Lloyds Banking Group is planning to launch a second RMBS deal this week, according to market reports.

The performance outlooks for ABS and RMBS in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are Negative, said Moody's Investors Service in its 2009 Review & 2010 Outlook report for both asset classes.

Paragon Group U.K. has asked UBS to arrange a roadshow for investors where the firm can talk about updating its strategy for its mortgage program, according to market reports.

Federal regulators have finalized a transition rule to cushion banks from the capital impact of consolidating mortgage securitizations on their balance sheets.

Prior to the recent dark age of credit, CLOs were kings in the land of the leveraged loan, a seat of power that diminished as the recession wore on and the loans in their fiefdoms lost value, causing a medieval-like bleeding of cash. But now sources say CLO cash is back, and the funds may once again be influencing the primary loan market.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave more details Thursday on its plan to weed out underperforming Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lenders.

Capital One Financial Corp. reported its second straight quarterly profit.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Wednesday announced policy changes it said were designed to strengthen the FHA's capital reserves. The FHA changes are expected to have little impact on housing, or Ginnie Mae supply and prepayments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled an insider-trading civil action case against former Boston-based Evergreen Investment Management Chief Administrative Officer and Senior VP Charles Marquardt.

Bennett Jones hired Michael Clifford for its Toronto office as partner. The firm said that Clifford has an active corporate finance practice and specializes in ABS and similar structured finance and derivative transactions.

Investment banking firm Jefferies has tapped former Federal Reserve Board advisor David Zervos to lead its global fixed-income strategy.

For the fourth quarter of 2009, nonperforming assets decreased from the prior quarter by $289 million for KeyCorp in Cleveland, Ohio, for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2006.

Fitch Ratings on Thursday upgraded the short- and long-term issuer default ratings on GMAC, in the wake of the Treasury Department recently pumping $3.8 billion into the struggling company.

Ginnie Mae has experienced tremendous growth in the last few years, therefore it faces operational challenges, according to Theodore Tozer, President Obama's nominee to be the agency's new president.

Tighter underwriting guidelines unveiled Wednesday by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will make it harder for lenders to qualify borrowers in a year when origination volumes are already expected to tank.

All banks and thrifts are having problems with commercial real estate loans, not just small community banks, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair.

A team of mortgage finance and investment management professionals formally launched BlackBox Logic.