Securitization

County and state officials are turning up the heat on MERS, as recent lawsuits filed in Florida, Delaware and Texas challenge the validity and accuracy of the mortgage industry-controlled loan registry.

Ginnie Mae reported a $1.2 billion profit from its secondary market operations in fiscal year 2011 — up 84% from FY 2010 — due to lower loss provisioning.

MarketAxess, a U.S. and European fixed-income electronic trading platform, has made an initial foray into U.S. nonagency residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities markets that appears to be drawing some interest.

Swiss Re has obtained another $130 million in protection via the Successor X Ltd. catastrophe bond program. This program covers North Atlantic hurricane and European windstorm.

American Express is in the market with a $864 million credit card securitization from the bank's American Express Credit Account Master Trust Series 2011-2.

Bill Twombly has joined the Risk Management Group (RMG) team as the managing director of RMG’s due diligence practice. He replaces Dante Jackson who has moved on to pursue other opportunities.

Ally Financial is actively considering putting its ailing Residential Capital Corp. (ResCap) mortgage lending unit into bankruptcy, according to a report from Dow Jones.

Not surprisingly, mortgage application activity rose 10.3% in the week ending Nov. 4.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker blamed financial lobbyists for overcomplicating the Volcker rule at a university talk in Singapore, according to a Reuters report.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is forecasting CLO issuance for 2012 of $15 billion, only marginally higher than the level it anticipates for the current year.

The recent prime auto ABS spread movements and new-issue pricing show that ABS investor demand for the product might be somewhat uneven, according to a Wells Fargo report released this afternoon.

There has been significant investor and Street apathy toward the non-agency market, FTN Financial analysts said in a report released this afternoon.

The annual fight over whether to allow the government to back higher-priced mortgages is shaping up to be a key proxy in a larger ideological war over housing finance reform.

Walter Investment Management Corp. posted a $61.7 million loss in the third quarter, citing higher operating and debt costs tied to its purchase of specialty servicer Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul, Minn.

PIMCO has boosted its portfolio management analytics team by appointing three new investment professionals in its New York and London offices.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) pilot program that requires firms to report an ABS transaction no later than the business day after the date of execution will expire on Nov. 18.

European issuers managed to get deals priced last week in the face of growing uncertainty over Europe's sovereign debt crisis, but at a cost.

The Prestwick Mortgage Group is selling a $406 million package of Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights for an undisclosed mortgage banking firm.

Although the chances are slim, the conforming loan limit in a few high-cost housing markets could rise on Jan. 1.

Freddie Mac is offering its fourth structured passthrough certificates (K Certificates) deal backed by multifamily mortgages with a seven-year term.