ABS

GCO Education Loan Funding Master Trust-II has made a tender offer to purchase certain outstanding senior auction rate bonds at a discount.

Moody’s Investors Service has released a new report entitled Assessing the Importance of an Originator's Retained Interest to Moody's Structured Finance Ratings.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Fannie Mae's long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at 'AAA', but it downgraded the GSE's preferred stock rating to 'A+' from 'AA-.'

Fixed-rate mortgages recorded double digit declines this week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.

Standard & Poor’s announced last week that it revised its outlook to negative from stable on the core entities of Dexia SA, citing the potential impact of “faster-than-expected deterioration of the U.S. housing market” on the Franco-Belgian bank’s bond insurer subsidiary Financial Security Assurance (FSA).

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes dropped again in July, as the National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index — a monthly gauge of builder sentiment — slipped to 16 from 18 in June, the group announced yesterday.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) today sent a letter stating their concerns regarding Statement 140 and Interpretation 46(R) to the Financial Accounting Standards Board and several regulators.

Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) has recently poached Brigitte Posch, a veteran of Latin American ABS, from her post as head of Latin American securitizations at Deutsche Bank.

The American Securitzation Forum (ASF) launched ASF Project RESTART today, according to a release from the association.

Standard & Poor’s is requesting comments on a proposal to incorporate credit stability as an important factor in its ratings.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson yesterday strongly urged Congress to act quickly to pass legislation that would create a new regulator and enable the Treasury to be a financial backstop for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, warning that such action is critical to restoring public confidence in the two secondary mortgage market giants.

Mortgage lenders are pushing for the U.K. treasury to assist the U.K. housing market by funding new home loans, according to an article in The Times today.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) board yesterday approved a final covered bond policy statement, according to an FDIC press release.

Alcentra, a specialist investor focused on subinvestment-grade debt, is moving one of its top managing directors from London to New York to lead its U.S. leveraged loan business, according to the Financial News.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Mortgage Master £11,900 for failing to adequately supervise an adviser. The negligence resulted in applications containing false and misleading information submitted to lenders, according to today’s FSA press release.

Moody’s Investors Service has withdrawn the 'SQ2' servicer quality rating belonging to Origen Servicing, which completed the sale and transfer of the servicing rights for all loans that it had serviced to Green Tree Servicing, according a release from the rating agency.

The federal government's efforts to bolster mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could result in added support for landmark housing legislation that includes several significant bond provisions, sources said yesterday.

Timothy Crisp has joined Foley & Lardner as partner in the business law department in its Madison office, according to today’s release.

Wilmington Trust has hired 12 staff members for its corporate client services business, according to today’s company release.

Top executives from U.K. banks have lobbied the Bank of England to extend the terms of its Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS), according to market reports.