Securitization

Fannie Mae released an updated Seller Guide that included a major change in its Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) rules yesterday.

Daniel Mudd, the former Fannie Mae CEO who is the subject of a new, massive Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fraud suit, announced Wednesday morning that he is taking a leave of absence from his current employer, Fortress Investment Group (FIG), New York.

The combined value of loans in CMBS pools hardly budged from October to November, according to data released today from DebtX. Based on loans that the advisory firm prices, the figure at the end of November was 85.2%, from 85.3% on Oct. 31.

Federal regulators on Tuesday disclosed one of the best kept secrets in town: how they planned to regulate the largest U.S. banks and what additional capital and liquidity firms would now need to hold.

It's been three long years since the GSE “buyback” wars commenced in earnest, and you would think by now the worst might be over. Well, think again.

Last week the Senate passed a payroll tax compromise (H.R. 3630) containing a provision to raise GSE and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guarantee fees by 10 basis points on new originations.

House GOP lenders want to conference with the Senate on a full-year extension. But Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., maintains he will not start negotiations until the House passes the two-month extension that the Senate approved Saturday by a 89-10 vote.

Federal regulators unveiled a highly-anticipated proposal Tuesday that details how they plan to regulate the largest domestic financial firms, including new capital and liquidity requirements.

Vertical Capital Markets Group, Irvine, Calif., this week launched a new fund that invests primarily in assets of residential performing loans secured by first mortgages or deeds of trust.

A federal judge yesterday questioned National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) claims of malfeasance in the sale of MBS to WesCorp Federal Credit Union by RBS Securities.

Single-family housing starts rose 2.4% in November on a sequential basis while multifamily starts jumped 32%, according to a new government report.

Average daily volume in the CMBS market in December is down versus November, according to data reported by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine or TRACE.

Miami-based education lender U. S. Education Loan Trust (USELT) is pursuing legal action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding the Royal Bank of Canada’s actions as underwriter, broker-dealer, remarketing agent and back-up purchaser of auction rate securities (ARS) issued by USELT.

It looks like Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller won't be getting his Christmas wish this year.

There's no law against running a flawed business poorly. If there were, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would have far more to work with in going after former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bosses for misleading investors.

Fannie Mae's chief economist is warning that the U.S. has a 40% chance of slipping into a double-dip recession in 2012.

A long-awaited package of critical regulations from the Federal Reserve Board — viewed by many as the core of the Dodd-Frank Act — are expected to be released Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A federal judge last week directed National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to begin negotiations aimed at settling NCUA’s $629 million claims over the failure of WesCorp Federal Corporate Union, one of five suits NCUA has filed against Wall Street banks over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities to corporate credit unions.

A funny thing happened on the way to the mortgage correction: while residential debt outstanding has been declining steadily for well over a year, subservicing contracts have increased – handsomely.

JPMorgan named a new head of its leveraged finance group in North America, the bank confirmed.