ABS

After two years of work, amendments to the Cedulas Hipotecarias framework have been completed. On May 2, a publication of the royal decree 716/2009 in Spain’s Boletín Oficial Del Estado stated the terms of the amendments.

The number of rating agency downgrades and reviews are expected to increase over the next year or so, according to Barclays Capital analysts.

The European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of updating the rules that the European Union (EU) banks will have to comply with beginning in 2010. The votes were broken into 454 in favor, 106 against and 25 abstentions.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. is recommending daily trade netting for TBA MBS transactions.

The Senate has passed a housing bill to jumpstart a $300 billion Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program refinancing program and shield mortgage servicers from investor lawsuits.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said he could bring a card bill up for a vote in the full Senate as soon as this week — and he may proceed even without a deal with Republicans.

Ginnie Mae posted $34.5 billion in total MBS issuance for April, according to a release from the agency.

Jefferies Group has futher expanded its ABS and MBS staff by making four hires in trading and sales.

With the back up in rates, questions are rising about convexity selling on a further sell-off that in turn would lead to even higher interest rates.

Bond insurer Assured Guaranty, Hamilton, Bermuda, is facing uncertainty about mortgage and other structured finance exposures that it said it believes were too pessimistically assessed in recent downgrades.

Despite mortgage rates moving back to a record low of 4.78% early in the week, according to Freddie Mac's survey, mortgage application activity was not very responsive.

GSC Group, a Florham Park, N.J.-based investment shop overseeing more than $18 billion in assets, has defaulted on its bank loan, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The three-month London interbank offered rate or Libor has fallen below 1% for the first time since its 1984 creation.

The Whistlejacket bid list traded at tighter levels than prevailing secondary market spreads for structured finance securities. This might be a sign that liquidity and investor interest in the sector is improving, Fitch Ratings said today.

Sallie Mae said it extended the term of its $21.8 billion ABCP facility that provides funding for the company's federally guaranteed student loans from April 28, 2009 to April 23, 2010.

New proposals for the regulation of securitization and the credit default swaps (CDS)

CI Financial Corp. has combined some of the resources acquired in its merger with KBSH Capital Management in a new division focused exclusively on the institutional investment marketplace.

Energizer Holdings renewed of its asset securitization program at the $200 million level.

The Senate on Tuesday moved closer to passing a housing bill after defeating two amendments that would weaken legal protections for residential servicers engaged in loan modifications and potentially handcuff the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) single-family program.

Negating criticism that the response to the government's Term ABS Loan Facility (TALF) has been lackluster thus far, over $10 billion worth of deals just priced under the program's third round.