ABS

Despite changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in March that were expected to stem fallout caused by other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) charges at the Federal Home Loan banks, the system is continuing to suffer massive losses on its portfolio holdings.

Equifax has acquired Rapid Reporting Verification Co. (RRVC), a privately held fraud detection firm, for $72.5 million in cash.

Broker dealer BTIG expanded its emerging markets fixed income platform by hiring Alfredo Chang and Patrick O’Sullivan. The new hires bring more than 15 years of experience to the firm.

Moody's Investors Service has completed reviewing its ratings on U.S. CLOs, downgrading almost 65% of the CLOs reviewed.

CarMax Business Services priced a $591 million auto ABS while Entergy Texas priced its $545.9 million securitization.

Employment and business woes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are continuing to erode the performance of CMBS and multifamily transactions in the region even though property values appear to have bottomed out and shown slight improvement, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service's London office.

Federal regulators have issued guidance that encourages banks to refinance or restructure commercial real estate loans despite declines in property values and rents.

Trepp announced multiple enhancements to Trepp CMBS Analytics™ and TreppLoan™ available at trepp.com.

CIT Group on Sunday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York’s Southern District Bankruptcy Court, and on Monday it asked the judge overseeing the case, Allan Gropper, for approval to receive a special loan facility to be used during the court-supervised workout.

Bemo Securitization SAL (BSEC) said its closed Rymco Drive 1, Rasamny Younis Motor Co.’s (RYMCO) first revolving auto ABS, and the first term securitization established under Lebanese asset securitization law 705/2005.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) hired two additions to its government affairs team. The new hires are Ellen McCarthy and John Hallmark.

Mexico’s Group Zapata, under its holding company Taenza, recently closed a Ps300 million ($22.9 million), two-year securitization of trade receivables.

Markit, an information services company, has agreed to acquire ACBS ClearPar from Fidelity National Information Services and said it will add the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.(DTCC) Loan/SERV Messaging Service to its electronic loan settlement platform.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has added Paul Feidelson, the former head of the investment and product platform for Barclays, to its global banking and markets group to head its commercial paper unit in the Americas.

Independent mortgage banking firms saw their origination profits increase 28% to $1,358 per loan in the second quarter thanks to rising loan volumes, in particular a swell in refinancings.

The 12 Federal Home Loan banks posted a net loss of $165 million during the third quarter, the system's Office of Finance said Friday.

The House and Senate approved a measure late Thursday that would let the government-sponsored enterprises buy or guarantee larger loans for one more year.

Manager Activity: Autos Book Runner Amount (US$ Mil) Rank Mkt.

Michael Brennan, co-founder and former president and CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust, has formed Brennan Investment Group (BIG), a new Chicago-based industrial real estate investment firm.

The House and Senate moved quickly to pass an extension of the $729,750 GSE loan limit through the end of 2010, hoping to avoid any potential disruption in the mortgage market.