ABS

Sallie Mae announced a new repayment plan today that aims to help eligible federal student loan customers to substantially lower their monthly payments, according to a release from the student lender.

Departing from its usual spot in Las Vegas, the American Securitization Forum will be holding its annual 2010 conference in Washington, D.C.

Assured Guaranty yesterday announced the launch of a combined $550 million offering of common shares and equity units and said it will increase the amount of cash and decrease the amount of stock it pays Dexia SA for its acquisition of Financial Security Assurance Holdings.

Guggenheim Capital Markets Tuesday said it was launching a new financial institutions group, to be led by a pair of former Bear Stearns executives.

The financial markets regulatory reform plan that the Obama administration is to propose Wednesday does not include changes to the structure or jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or to self-regulatory organizations that operate under it such as the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, a senior administration official said in a background briefing with reporters Tuesday night.

Are reverse mortgages going into, well, reverse?

The newest client for PHH Mortgage's private label outsourced origination platform is Amalgamated Bank, New York.

Even though residential loan production fell just 12% in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, the origination of Alt-A loans and interest-only loans plummeted, according to survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News (NMN).

Construction of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 401,000 units in May, the best reading in six months and a sign that the home building sector may have hit bottom this spring and is now showing tentative signs of a recovery.

Starwood Capital Group plans to launch a new REIT program to purchase distressed loans, according to the S-11 filing on June 4. Starwood Property Trust (SPT) will draw upon the experience of Starwood Capital’s investment professionals, as well as utilizing its own management group.

A new £420 million CMBS deal is being marketed at the moment, according to Barclays Capital. This deal ends a two-year lull in the Euro CMBS primary pipeline.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Advanta Corp.'s long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) from 'C' to Restricted Default ('RD').

The Treasury Department circulated a proposal Monday to require originators to retain 5% of a loan's credit risk when selling it into the secondary markets.

The Federal Reserve has selected Trepp as a collateral monitor for legacy CMBS that fall under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).

In the current low interest rate environment, European market mortgage underwriting policies on debt-to-income (DTI) ratios could lead to the weaker performance of floating-rate loans, according to Fitch Ratings.

New York-based Six Flags is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court, the company said in a statement.

RBS appointed Scott Lang as managing director and head of regional dealer sales for USD rates within its global banking and markets (GBM) division. Lang will be based in Stamford, CT.

Bankrupt subprime lender Fremont General Corp. of California agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it engaged in unfair loan practices in Massachusetts.

Fitch Ratings has observed a larger number of asset managers removing credit impaired assets at prices below par, resulting in realized loss to CDO collateral.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh lost $23.6 million for the first quarter of 2009, and as a consequence, it said it was unable to set aside any funds for affordable housing programs.