ABS

National home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 7.8% in October 2009 compared with October 2008, according to First American CoreLogic and its LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI).

Existing home sales jumped 7.4% in November to a 6.54 million annual rate spurred by the original Nov. 30 deadline for a recently extended federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

DBRS's New York office downgraded 497 classes from 122 RMBS transactions, the majority of which are pre-2006 vintages backed by subprime or alternative A credit collateral.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) occupies a unique position in the debate on securitization reform due to the agency's long-standing "safe harbor" policy.

In the latest addition to the DoubleLine investment roster, former The TCW Group executive Ronald Redell joined the likes of nearly 40 other employees from the firm Friday, and signed with Jeffrey Gundlach’s new firm.

Corporate greed, moral hazard, lax oversight and foolhardy underwriting all contributed to the crisis in finance. Another factor, less useful for sloganeers but no less insidious, was the simple mispricing of risk.

Bankrupt shopping mall owner General Growth Properties will be paying shareholders a dividend, the company announced late Friday.

Moody's Investors Service late Friday confirmed the 'Aa3' insurance financial strength ratings of Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AG Municipal).

The Federal Reserve has purchased more than $1 trillion in agency MBS to support the mortgage market this year and Fed officials are trying to wind down its $1.25 trillion purchase program by March 31.

Loan Value Group appointed Richard Santulli, former chairman and chief executive officer of NetJets, to its board as Chairman. It also appointed Michael Goodman, former CEO of J.G. Wentworth, to its board through Corridor Quadrant’s ownership position in Loan Value Group. Goodman will also take an active role as Managing Partner.

The New York Federal Reserve rejected three bonds for the December legacy CMBS Term ABS Loan Facility (TALF) subscription period, while accepting 55.

Concerns that housing and employment woes will persist into the second half of next year have contributed to a rating criteria change at Moody's Investors Service that leaves thousands of prime jumbo RMBS on review for possible downgrade.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is contemplating securitizing at least $10 billion of delinquent and underperforming whole loans belonging to failed banks in the first quarter, according to investment banking sources who have been briefed about the plan.

The Bank of England said today in its Financial Stability Report that banks should make the most of strong profits and relatively stable financial markets to bolster their weakened balance sheets and protect themselves against any future worsening in macroeconomic conditions.

Moody's Investors Service updated its approach for analyzing set-off risk in U.K. securitization and covered bond transactions.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has nabbed a JPMorgan veteran to head up its Americas primary loan sales unit, the New York-based banking giant announced yesterday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today charged the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based ICAP with fraud for engaging in deceptive broking activity and making material misrepresentations to clients about its trading activities.

President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) John Courson strongly endorsed President Obama's announcement of his intention to nominate Theodore W. Tozer as Ginnie Mae president, calling on the Senate to quickly take up and approve the nomination.

By the end of the third quarter the estimated number of homes heading toward foreclosure but not yet included in "unsold inventory" figures reached 1.7 million, up from 1.1 million a year earlier, according to new First American CoreLogic data.

Loan Value Group (LVG), Rumson, N.J., is close to partnering with a national mortgage lender to begin rolling out a patent-pending program aimed at heading off "strategic default," according to industry sources. An LVG representative declined to comment and the lender was not identified.