ABS

Banks purged a ton of bad loans this year, but considerable cleanup still looms in 2010.

While securitization of residential mortgages that lack government backing remains moribund, credit card and other consumer lenders have issued about the same amount of ABS this year as they did in 2008 thanks to a federal rescue.

The Treasury Department will stop purchasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS on Dec. 31, although as mentioned in an earlier story posted on StructuredFinanceNews.com, the department is increasing its capital support for the two financially strapped GSEs.

On the same day that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced multi-million dollar compensation packages for its chief executives, the Treasury Department expanded federal support of the government-sponsored enterprises.

In a court filing, Lehman Brothers requested a judge to let Neuberger Berman sell $180 million of its ABS, Bloomberg reported.

A bipartisan effort by members of the Senate Banking Committee to draft a financial regulatory reform bill is making progress, according to committee leaders.

Bank of America Corp.'s lawsuit against MGIC Investment Corp. reflects escalating tensions in the industry over mortgage insurers' denials of claims that lenders submit for defaulted home loans.

A pair of Bank of America subsidiaries, Countrywide Home Loans, and BAC Home Loans Servicing, is suing Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC), seeking a declaratory judgment against the mortgage insurer.

Standard & Poor's late Tuesday downgraded to 'BB-' from 'BB' the financial strength, financial enhancement, and corporate credit ratings of bond insurer Radian Asset Assurance. The company was taken off negative watch and placed on negative outlook.

RAIT Securities, a subsidiary and broker-dealer for the RAIT Investment Trust, added two new “seasoned professionals” in its latest attempt to expand its institutional fixed-income sales and trading businesses.

CIT Group, a lender to small businesses and middle-market companies which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this month, announced today that its chief financial officer, Joseph Leone, will retire on April 30, 2010, and that four new directors have been appointed to its board.

Home prices rose 0.6% in October and rebounded from a 0.4% decline in September, according to a house price index compiled by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Standard & Poor's has downgraded the ratings on five mortgage insurance companies, saying industry losses have exceeded its prior expectations and the recession has had a deeper impact on their portfolios than expected.

The Federal Reserve Board and Federal Trade Commission have issued a final rule that requires lenders to disclose their use of risk-based pricing along with a notice that tells consumers they will not get the best deal because of their credit score.

Banks are scrambling to find new footing as lawmakers and regulators undermine one of the industry's profit foundations: consumer fees.

Nearly one-third of consumers believe the economic downturn has not yet hit bottom, according to research by First Command Financial Services.

Bankrupt small-business credit card lender Advanta Corp. disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that defaults dropped to 34.36% in November from 34.99% the previous month, according to Bloomberg.

The multifamily sector is taking a beating and experiencing record vacancy rates due to high unemployment and low household formation, according to Freddie Mac.

The $7.6 billion Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System’s (LASERS) investment committee met last Thursday to discuss The TCW Group’s organizational changes.

Barbara Alexander, who has been one of three Freddie Mac directors the Federal Housing Finance Agency left in place after the company was placed into government conservatorship, will step down from the company's board once her term ends in March of next year.