ABS

The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill by Rep. Carolyn Maloney Thursday that would rein in a slew of common credit card practices. The committee approved the measure with a vote of 39 to 27 including two Republicans who cosponored the bill — Reps. Walter Jones and Chris Shays.

IndyMac Bancorp plans to file for voluntary Chapter 7 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Guggenheim Capital Markets (GCM) has expanded its research and analytics capabilities by hiring Scott Buchta as head of a new investment strategies group.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft will lay off 96 lawyers in the U.S. and Britain as a result of the continued slowness in real estate finance and securitization, according to published reports.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) credit rating agency task force issued its recommendations for credit rating agency reform today.

Based on its expectation that Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. (FGIC) will experience further credit deterioration on its book of business backed by residential mortgage-backed securities, Fitch Ratings this morning dropped its insurer financial strength rating on the company to 'CCC' from 'BBB'. The rating was also placed on evolving watch.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on Wednesday delayed implementation of a rule FAS 140 that could force issuers of securitized assets —including mortgages — to post more capital on bonds guaranteed and held off the balance sheet.

GMAC swung to a second-quarter loss as it took a $716 million lease-down and recorded more losses from its Residential Capital unit, which the firm said is beginning to stabilize.

Scott Valentin, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., raised his rating of Advanta Corp. to "market perform," from "underperform," on Wednesday, writing that the stock has fallen to a point at which "valuation better reflects risks."

In the weeks preceding Wednesday's decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to postpone changes to accounting rules for securitizations, attention tended to focus on the changes' ramifications for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the European Securitization Forum (ESF) said they welcome the assessment and analysis of current market conditions stated in the recent U.K. treasury report authored by Sir James Crosby. The report also looked at the implications on the securitization market and potential policy alternatives.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday said it extended several measures aimed at enhancing liquidity in the credit markets.

Kieran Quinn, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has commented on the decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to delay by a year the implementation of a forthcoming proposal that would bring broad changes to securitization accounting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board(FASB) decided this morning to propose a single effective date for the amendments to FAS 140 and FIN 46R.

Moody's Investors Service placed the 'B2' insurance financial strength ratings of XL Capital Assurance (XLCA), XL Capital Assurance (U.K.) and XL Financial Assurance (XLFA) under review with direction uncertain yesterday, according to Moody’s release, and also placed the ratings of Security Capital Assurance (SCA) and a related financing trust on review for possible downgrade.

Moody's Investors Service said in a report that it expects further write-downs for the large European banks' structured finance portfolios resulting from continued widening in U.S. subprime RMBS spreads and deterioration in the credit quality of financial guarantors.

Bayview Financial Holdings, a Coral Gables, Fla., mortgage finance company, has agreed to sell a minority position in its Bayview Asset Management to Blackstone Group, a New York alternative investment manager.

Citigroup probably will write down the value of CDOs by $8 billion this quarter, Mike Mayo, a Deutsche Bank analyst, wrote in a report to clients Tuesday after Merrill Lynch said it would sell CDO holdings for 22 cents on the dollar.

Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ratings on Advanta and its subsidiaries, including the ‘BB-’ long-term counterparty credit rating on Advanta and the ‘BB’ long-term counterparty credit rating on its operating subsidiary, Advanta Bank.

Merrill Lynch has planned a series of moves to improve its capital position, including the sale of problematic mortgage-related CDOs for $6.7 billion, according to yesterday’s release.