ABS

A new modification bill (Preserving Homes and Communities Act of 2009) was introduced in the U.S. Senate to expand loan-modification programs and place new restrictions on lenders before they can initiate foreclosure proceedings.

CIT Group, the New York finance company, said it is planning an exchange offer for some of its unsecured notes in an effort to shore up its liquidity, but if it does not complete the offer the company may file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Robert Williams joined Allen & Overy as partner in its London-based U.S. corporate finance group.

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

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will update its origination forecast for 2010 at next week's annual convention but isn't giving any hints on whether the forecast will change much.

Steve Abreu is the new president of GMAC's mortgage operations, working out of the company's Fort Washington, Pa., office.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) hired Carter McDowell as managing director and associate general counsel.

First American CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., is offering current and potential clients a "2X mortgage fraud guarantee."

Strategem Capital Corp. sold 100% of its Canadian ABCP for proceeds of CDN$1,884,993 and bought units in a managed fund that will provide similar exposure to the ABCP market, according to a release from the company.

Lending through the Federal Reserve Board's discount window budged up less than 1% during the past week, to $110.3 billion.

It was a meeting nobody expected to happen, least of all the participants.

The first two public-private ventures that will invest in toxic mortgage-backed securities have been approved by the Treasury Department.

What a difference a year has made. The leveraged loan market appears to have turned a corner, and a big part of that has been the willingness of banks to turn on the faucet and fund new deals. This was especially true during the third quarter. And while no one expects that faucet to morph into a fire hose anytime soon, many market participants believe lending will continue to increase for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010.

Fitch Ratings has published its criteria for rating structured finance transactions, outlining five fundamental elements that it uses for each rating. The New York-based rating agency said it published the criteria in the interest of transparency.

The American Securitization Forum has submitted a letter to federal banking regulators requesting the near-term announcement of a six-month moratorium on any regulatory capital rule changes related to the implementation of accounting standards FAS 166 and 167, and the proposed elimination of the option for ABCP conduit sponsors to disregard consolidation of conduits for risk-based capital purposes.

The Manitowoc Company increased its trade receivables securitization by $125 million. Nord LB's commercial paper conduit, Hannover Funding Company LLC, will fund the transaction.

The recent decline in performance of Sallie Mae’s private student loan securitizations is linked to the more restrictive forbearance policy the lender introduced in early 2008,according to a Moody’s Investors Service report.

For the week ending Oct. 1, 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.94% with an average 0.7 point, down 10 basis points from last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Loan modifications and payment restructurings by the nation's residential servicers rose 75% in the second quarter to 439,574 units, with a noticeable increase in principal reductions, according to new figures released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The 2008 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data show that Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending surged in the second half of 2008 and by December FHA had a 38% share of the home purchase market and 25% share of the refinancing market.