ABS

Obama administration officials believe they have designed a loan modification program that will fit a wide range of struggling homeowners and they want to ensure that these borrowers are guided quickly to the right servicer. "

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston may have to take a larger impairment charge on its investments in private-label mortgage-backed securities and it has delayed the issuance of the 2008 combined financial report of the 12 FHLBanks.

President Barack Obama took hold of the automotive industry on Monday by saying no to restructuring proposals from General Motors Corp. and Chrysler.

Some observers expect issuance of credit card-backed bonds to pick up substantially in the coming months, though lenders are weighing the costs of alternative sources of funding.

A slight pickup in non-agency RMBS prices has been seen in response to the government's latest Public-Private Investment Plan (PPIP) and Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) initiatives, but a fair amount of pessimism linked to other issues persists in the market.

Home values will continue to suffer through year-end 2010 with most metropolitan statistical areas facing an increased risk of lower prices, according to a new report issued by PMI Mortgage Insurance, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Over the past week, two student loan offerings have come to market from Sallie Mae and Nelnet.

Guggenheim Capital Markets (GCM), a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, expanded its U.S. fixed-income rates trading group and appointedThomas L. di Galoma and three members of his team from Jefferies. The group will be based in GCM’s New York office.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is urging bankers to stand firm and not compromise on cramdown legislation because Senate Democratic leaders don't have the votes to pass it.

Irwin Financial Corp. said Wednesday it will be able to remove $690 million in home equity loan assets from its balance sheet in the first quarter and improve its capital ratios as a result of an asset sale that closed Tuesday.

Thornburg Mortgage, Santa Fe, N.M., has made plans to discontinue operations after winding down through a bankruptcy filing and a series of asset sales and liquidations, ending a struggle to survive the non-agency liquidity crisis that started in 2007.

Although the Senate Banking Committee voted for the first time to adopt comprehensive credit card reforms Tuesday, the close margin cast doubt on its odds for enactment.

PF2 Securities Evaluations increased its analytical tools for CDOs to prepare for changing Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) requirements.

The ability of managers of investment grade corporate synthetic CDOs to trade has been dramatically reduced as a result of structural constraints, a lack of market liquidity and unprecedented spread widening, Fitch Ratings analysts said.

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) have published draft recommendations.

Inter-dealer broker Phoenix Partners hired emerging markets specialist Niels Nooy as European head of emerging markets.

The Senate Banking Committee approved sweeping legislation 12 to 11 on Tuesday to rein in credit card practices, with all Republicans and one Democrat — Sen. Tim Johnson — opposing the measure.

Accounting rules need to be more "realistic" so Federal Home Loan Banks and other institutions holding MBS until maturity do not have to take "excessive" writedowns, according to House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Prior to the recent sale of the government-owned IndyMac FSB to an investor group,

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking expanded loss mitigation authority allowing the principal amount of an Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgage to be reduced by up to 30% to help homeowners avoid defaults.