ABS

The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by 0.7% over 4Q08 to $3.5 trillion, reported the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Monday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) officials are ready to begin discussions with banks that want to sell pools of troubled real estate loans under its new Legacy Assets program, but it could be three or more months before the agency is ready to conduct the first competitive sealed bid auctions.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) seized control of the nation's two largest corporate credit unions on Friday due to growing losses on their private label MBS.

BigBidder.com, a Web site created by LFC Group of Cos. for auctioning notes online, has opened up to a wider investor base, offering open access to qualified investors to purchase individual notes.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced late Thursday that it had closed its deal to sell the failed IndyMac Bank.

Ginnie Mae is poised to play a role in easing the warehouse lending liquidity crisis but does not think it will be a direct lender.

The Treasury Department on Monday unveiled two separate programs for the removal of more than $500 billion in toxic private-label MBS and bad real estate loans from the balance sheets of financial institutions.

The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) announced the formation of a new special interest group which will focus on representing the needs of investors in the covered bond market.

Fitch Ratings downgraded 78 tranches (69 public ratings and nine private ratings) and affirmed 18 tranches (all public) from 38 European structured finance CDOs.

Markit announced the launch of a credit default swap (CDS) data and information portal designed to increase transparency and provide a broader audience with a tool to monitor the market.

For several months now market participants have speculated whether the government would intervene in the CLO market.

The Federal Reserve Board has expanded its new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) to help cash strapped mortgage servicers that pay advances to MBS investors to cover missed payments by delinquent homeowners.

While the gap between REO sales prices and the rest of the market was very slim prior to 2007, a new study from Lender Processing Services (LPS) in Jacksonville, Fla. shows that gap is growing at an accelerating pace.

The Treasury Department has explained how to use a new Web site that allows homeowners to learn about Obama administration's new housing plan and whether they can qualify for a loan modification.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges hired derivatives and structured products legal expert Daniel Cunningham as part of the firm's New York office.

Xtract Research and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) launched their new bank loan credit agreement analysis product titled LSTA Xtract Bank Debt Review. LSTA Xtract Bank Debt Review offers a comprehensive analysis of credit agreements about newly issued loans and loans in the secondary market for public and private documents.

When Lee Hayes, Dick Stack and John Dwyer called some 75 U.S. investors -– institutional accounts that include mutual funds and insurers –- early this year they were pleasantly surprised. All of these market players were ready to do business with their little-known brokerage firm, Northeast Securities, which just started its big push into fixed income.

Negotiations over bankruptcy cram down provisions in a housing bill have hit a snag and Senate Democratic leaders have put off legislative action until late April.

Two credit card deals are giving life to what has thus far been an auto-dominated ABS market.

U.S. commercial property prices are off 19% from year-ago levels and down 21% from an October 2007 peak, according to a measure of property values published on Thursday by Moody's Investors Service.