ABS

Adjustable-rate mortgage lending fell sharply last year as the initial payment savings disappeared, according to a survey by Freddie Mac.

Commercial mortgage banker Walker & Dunlop (W&D) of Bethesda, M.D., and a sister company that specializes in Freddie Mac multifamily loans, has agreed to merge with Column Guaranteed, a unit controlled by investment banker Credit Suisse (CS).

The Federal Reserve purchased nearly $70 billion of GSE MBS during the first month of its special initiative to lower loan rates and help stabilize the residential finance market.

Genworth Financial Home Equity Access, Richmond, Va., a reverse mortgage lender once known as Liberty Reverse Mortgage, is expanding its wholesale lending operations.

Shares for troubled Belgian bank KBC suffered heavy losses this month amid concerns about the bank's exposure to fragile emerging markets as well as its need to raise fresh capital.

The ABS market remained quiet last week as participants were still waiting for further details about the Federal Reserve's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).

The European Central Bank (ECB) published adjustments of risk control measures for newly issued ABS.

The U.K. government has changed its direction for nationalized Northern Rock's portfolio.

Moody's Investors Service predicts that structured finance activity in the new markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will be hampered for some time.

The Latin American storyline shifted last year as the gangrenous financial crisis spread from the countries where it sprang forth to the periphery. For the first half of the year, talk in the region was of resilience and differentiation from the credit-mad developed world. In the second half, and especially the last quarter, the rhetoric swirled around how far contamination will reach and which sectors are most vulnerable to a drop in asset quality.

Early-week volume into Wednesday was modestly below normal. This was because the Chinese New Year celebrations kept overseas investors quiet and the market waited for the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) Wednesday statement.

Despite the current tumult in the securitization market, the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) upcoming yearly gathering is set to be well-attended.

Capital rules applying to the Federal Home Loan Banks will be divided into four classifications under an interim final rule the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued Tuesday.

Despite staving off an immediate failure of one of the Detroit Big Three auto dealers with $17.4 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), doubt remains over these firms' long-term viability.

For CLO managers, watching the declining performance of their underlying collateral has been about as much fun as a Tijuana jail. And it doesn't look like they'll make bail anytime soon.

The mortgage market has begun the long and arduous process of crawling from the wreckage of the last two years. While the government has been involved in mortgage lending since the 1930s, recent recovery efforts have resulted in a massive intervention in the mortgage sector to both support the financial system and keep mortgage money flowing to the housing markets. However, the government's involvement in mortgage lending will be difficult to end without renewed disruptions to the financial and housing markets. Whether they know it or not, they are in for the long haul. With a long-term recovery in housing as the ultimate goal, they need to examine some of the distortions stemming from the government's traditional role in mortgage and MBS markets.

Jon Bass, head of the U.S. fixed income group at UBS, has resigned. A source familiar with the firm confirmed reports of the credit chief’s resignation.

New homes sales fell nearly 15% in December from November to a level not seen since 1981 as builders wait to see what Congress is going to do to help the housing market.

The House has passed the $820 billion economic stimulus bill that restores the $729,750 loan limit in high cost areas for the rest of this year.

The U.K. government's proposed £2.5 billion ($3.5 billion) support package for the U.K. auto industry is unlikely to have any impact on the ratings of outstanding auto-related ABS, according to analysts at Fitch Ratings.