ABS

Overdues on securities backed by multifamily and retail commercial loans climbed 29 basis points in May to 2.07%, according to Fitch Ratings — the highest percentage of delinquencies since the company created a tracking index back in 2001.

Extension risk has risen with the back up in mortgage rates. Thisevent could impact ROEs substantially in a further sell-off, said Deutsche Bank Securities mortgage analysts.

Appleby announced its merger with Dickinson Cruickshank, the largest law firm in the Isle of Man.

Bermuda finalized a bilateral tax information exchange agreement with the Netherlands, bringing its total number of such agreements to 12 on June 8. Twelve is the required threshold for the country’s removal from the OECD’s “grey list” of tax havens.

New-York based BlackRock announced on June 11 its agreement to acquire Barclays’ asset management unit, Barclays Global Investors (BGI).

Every mortgage banker knows it takes a license to lend in any state, but what if your firm only services loans?

CIT Education Loan Trust 2009-1, a $679 million student loan ABS deal, is currently in the market. The transaction is led by Citigroup Global Markets.

There are signs that investors are gathering more capital for distressed debt investing, yet distressed investment seems to be lagging, even as the primary high yield market booms. Observers note that macroeconomic fears may be keeping investors away as defaults and bankruptcies are expected to spike.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has embraced the concept of creating an independent consumer protection agency with broad regulatory and enforcement powers over mortgage lender practices and products.

Kondaur Capital of Irvine, CA is working on a deal to buy "several thousand" nonperforming mortgages, said company president Jon Daurio.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published Financial Accounting Statements No. 166, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets, and No. 167, Amendments to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R). These statements change the way entities account for securitizations and special-purpose entities (SPEs).

Kazkommertsbank has bought back all the bonds in its DPR program, the bank said today on its Web site.

The Barclays Capital index team said that Federal Reserve agency MBS purchases would remain part of the aggregate index, which has various implications, according to the team.

The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) has become the latest pension fund to make an allocation to Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) strategies.

Many Federal Reserve district banks are seeing an increase in home sales, according to the Fed's Beige Book.

May foreclosures marked the third straight month where the total number of foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000, according to the May 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. Default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on 321,480 U.S. properties, a decrease of 6% from April but an increase of nearly 18% from April 2008.

Jefferies & Co., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, hired three senior professionals in the firm’s MBS/ABS sales and trading group. All will be based in Jefferies’ Chicago office and focused on serving the firm’s Midwest MBS/ABS clients.

NewOak Capital hired Shad Quraishi as vice chairman and head of business development and strategy for its integrated advisory, asset management and capital markets businesses.

Assured Guaranty expects to close its acquisition of Financial Security Assurance Holdings (FSA) on July 1, Assured and FSA parent Dexia announced yesterday.

Mortgage rates surged in the week ending June 4, reported Freddie Mac in its weekly survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 5.59% (with an average 0.7 point), up 30 basis points from last week.