Banking

While the Mortgage Bankers Association hailed the move, some experts say it could negatively impact housing inventory.

Citigroup unexpectedly lost a legal battle to recover half a billion dollars it sent Revlon lenders, after the embarrassing blunder forced it to answer to regulators and tighten its internal controls.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Feb. 5-11

Opportunity Financial, which offers consumer installment loans in partnership with banks, is merging with FG New America Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition corporation. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The eight-year-old finance company closed on its fourth overall securitization, in what was its largest ABS bond issuance to date.

Gains in consumer financial stability helped to decrease the rates of distressed home loans, but job creation is needed to make recovery sustainable, a CoreLogic report found.

The biggest U.S. banks reduced the portion of their collective balance sheets they’re dedicating to loans to a new low, extending a trend that’s seen the largest lenders put less and less of their firepower behind everyday borrowers.

The rise in sales comes as risk premiums for new transactions have tightened to pre-pandemic levels, marking a stark turnaround in a sector with heavy exposure to company bankruptcies caused by the lockdowns.

Acting Director Dave Uejio wrote in a blog post that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needs more time to consider rules that were finalized under the Trump administration but have not yet gone into effect.

The proposed securitization launches the same week the Federal Reserve lifted a three-year-old enforcement action against the auto lender over its prior risk compliance oversight policies.

However, the share of new impairments increased, likely as a result of the high concentration of these loans given to self-employed borrowers.

A consensual deal cuts legal costs and hastens a Chapter 11 exit, but plans block possible restructuring proposals that can curb cash payouts to lower-ranking creditors.

Environmental, social and governance issues topped the list of risk managers’ concerns in a Deloitte poll .

AMC and American Airlines took advantage of surprise stock-price surges to cash out shares and raise liquidity for possible debt reduction — a massive stroke of good fortune for the companies as well as their creditors.

The CARES Act-related forbearances could be “lulling us into a false sense of security” as 12-month expirations approach, according to Black Knight.

Like other card issuers, the Stamford, Conn., company expects current trends — soft loan demand but strong credit quality — to reverse later this year as the economy emerges from the pandemic-induced recession.

The struggling movie-theater chain is among once-risky debt investments reaping big gains after day traders helped fuel the sudden stock surge.

Dave Uejio, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, promised to protect veterans from predatory loans and to crack down on companies that improperly garnish stimulus checks or mistreat struggling borrowers.

Cheap funding costs have extended a lifeline to many troubled companies, slowing the pace of U.S. bankruptcy filings, but shops, offices and hotels have been particularly vulnerable to the pandemic this month.

Black Knight’s product is designed to assist mortgage lenders in performing due diligence while also preventing heightened risk of foreclosure losses.