ABS

The European Commission has posted its proposal for revisions to the capital requirements directive.

Bowing to pressure from Congress and industry groups, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have issued a last-minute clarification that will allow companies to use expected cash flows to value illiquid mortgage assets in preparing their third-quarter financial reports.

Unlike Freddie Mac, which experienced a 56% contraction to $760.9 billion in its retained portfolio in August, Fannie Mae's actually rose 3% to $759.98 billion. Net retained purchases totaled $13.6 billion compared to Freddie Mac's $15.4 billion decline.

The negotiations regarding a second run at passing the TARP bill remain fluid, according to a note from RBS Greenwich Capital (RBSGC) just released.

NewOak Capital has appointed key leaders of its integrated advisory/asset management/structured product firm.

Citing the current market environment and related questions regarding the implementation of fair value, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has revised its previous agenda for today's board meeting.

Markit postponed the launch of the Markit ABX.HE 05-2 index. The ABX.HE is a tradable synthetic index of U.S. subprime ABS.

Genworth Financial today said it is examining a number of strategic alternatives regarding its U.S. mortgage insurance business, including a possible spin-off, to determine the best alternative for the insurance firm, its customers and shareholders.

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking, has launched a new

FRSGlobal announced the launch of its new product — ReportBuilder — part of the FRSGlobal center for regulatory reporting.

By purchasing Wachovia Corp., Citigroup — which is receiving federal aid on the deal — will pick up additional market share in both residential lending and servicing, challenging Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo for the top perch in the industry.

Following in Fannie Mae's footsteps, Freddie Mac yesterday announced changes in its senior management and organization that are effective immediately.

As the market waits on the vote for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which includes the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), research is coming out on initial thoughts about it.

The roll dates for the Markit CDX North America Investment Grade, Markit CDX North America Investment Grade High Volatility, Markit CDX North America Crossover, Markit CDX Emerging Markets and Markit CDX Emerging Markets Diversified indices have been postponed again by index dealers because of “market conditions and requests from their clients.” These indices will now roll into new versions on Oct. 2, 2008 instead of Sept. 29, 2008.

The U.K. Treasury announced today that it has transferred part of Bradford & Bingley's (B&B) business to Abbey National. The remainder of B&B’s business will remain in public ownership.

The acquisition of Washington Mutual by JPMorgan Chase will likely make JPMorgan into more of a powerhouse in RMBS issuance.

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

Last week U.S Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson extended the biggest lifeline to the financial markets of all time - and perhaps made the biggest gamble with U.S. taxpayer money - when he announced a plan to purchase approximately $700 billion in troubled assets from U.S. financial institutions.

As Congress battled over the terms of the Treasury bailout plan last week, Christopher Ricciardi, chief executive officer at Cohen & Co. and former managing director of global structured credit products at Merrill Lynch, launched an alternative proposal to the government's purchase strategy under the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP) .

Lehman Brothers's collapse has set back the recovery in European ABCP, as it gave the already jittery investor base more reason to stay away.