ABS

Standard & Poor's, in a new report, predicts that subprime losses on 'AAA' rated mortgage bonds may not be as bad as some are projecting.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have adopted a "streamlined" approach to modifying delinquent mortgages that regulators and industry groups hope will be accepted by investors in private-label nonprime mortgage-backed securities.

The federal government should consider extending a lending facility to non-bank mortgage servicers to avoid "significant disruptions" if they run short of funds in making advances on delinquent mortgages, according to the American Securitization Forum.

Syncora Holdings expects to report a third-quarter net loss of $1.3 billion, up from a net loss of $89.9 million in the third quarter of last year, it said in a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this morning.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today said that buying troubled assets will no longer be the focus of the financial rescue package.

Genworth Financial hired Ronald Joelson as its new chief investment officer, with responsibility for managing Genworth's nearly $70 billion investment portfolio.

Citi has joined other lenders in offering streamlined workouts to home loan borrowers who are at risk of default.

Thornburg Mortgage continued to take losses on securitized loans in the third quarter, but was able to offset them with gains related to its senior subordinated secured notes, a principal participation agreement and warrant liability to produce a $140 million profit for the period.

The credit performance of Fannie Mae's guaranteed nonprime mortgages continued to deteriorate and the percentage of seriously delinquent Alt-A loans jumped over 100 basis points during the third quarter to 4.92%.

Moody's Investors Service reported in its U.K. credit card index report for September 2008 that the U.K. credit card ABS sector will witness deterioration over the next coming months despite relatively stable credit card indicators reported in September 2008.

The U.K. government announced the creation of two new government industry groups that will focus on ensuring the long-term strength of the U.K.'s insurance and asset management industries.

Standard Chartered said that its local subsidiary in Brazil has agreed to acquire a specialist team and some fixed assets from Lehman Brothers Brazil. The acquisition will be completed by end this month, subject to certain regulatory approvals.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loan limits for single-family homes under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Moody's Investors Service is modifying the rating methodology it applies to structured finance securities wrapped by financial guarantors.

RiverSource Investments hired Todd White as structured assets sector team leader. RiverSource Investments is a unit of Ameriprise Financial.

European leaders unveiled a policy paper containing principles and measures to strengthen the international financial stability that summarizes their position on the financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve Board said its purchases of commercial paper increased 67.9% from a week earlier, to more than $243.1 billion as of Wednesday.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union of Manhattan Beach, Calif., has hired Jess Lederman, a former Bear Stearns executive who recently departed as chief risk officer of Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)

Manager Activity: AutosFull Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market

With the massive number of bad loans that servicers are being bombarded with, these companies are faced with seemingly insurmountable capacity, legal and tax issues. Can they handle the onslaught?