Securitization

The recent focus on the economy and the jobless rate has, in the popular press, pushed the housing market from the front pages of the mainstream press. The continued weakness in the housing markets, however, is a major factor in the sapping of consumer confidence and the resulting lack of a robust rebound. While housing and mortgage lending remains entangled in a seemingly intractable web of investigations, negotiations and unimplemented regulations, an important short-term goal should be to make headway against the huge backlog of nonperforming loans.

Having proven their mettle in crisis conditions, covered bonds are gaining popularity outside their traditional enclave of continental Europe. A number of emerging markets are looking into the product, and a few have recently made concrete moves. Turkey, for instance, saw its first covered bond a couple of months ago.

The Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. long-term debt rating was followed a few days later by downgrades of debt issued by government-related entities such as the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), as well as a slew of funds with a majority of their exposures to U.S. Treasurys.

It's been a brutal time for executives in structured finance departments across Wall Street since the 2008 financial crisis.

Once again the fear in the MBS market is the possibility of a government refinancing program —dubbed refinance.gov or refi.gov by analysts — as a way to stimulate the economy.

The current shutdown of the European leveraged loan market, after a glimpse of better times earlier this year, has prompted some to fret, once again, about a barrage of loan maturities coming due just as many of Europe's CLOs come to the end of their reinvestment period.

As part of its ongoing efforts to better align the interests of participants in the RMBS market and address the issue of risk retention, the Asset Securitization Forum (ASF) has come out with some guidelines relating to the repurchase of RMBS.

The insurance industry, market analysts said, is increasingly relying on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) ratings to evaluate non-agency RMBS.

Objections continue to mount against Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with 22 major holders of Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage-backed securities.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said late Wednesday that Robert P. Kelly had resigned as chairman and chief executive due to differences with the board "in approach to managing the company."

Little has been done to buoy confidence that an economic recovery is at hand. A settlement of the investigations surrounding last year’s robo-signing scandal that, among other things, achieves widespread principal reduction commitments from major servicers, could change that — but only if done carefully.

The Lloyds TSB Bank Plc sponsored hybrid conduit, Cancara Asset Securitization LLC, added a $120 million loan facility to its portfolio.

Yesterday the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in its capacity as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac filed an Appearance and Conditional Objection regarding the proposed settlement between Bank of America and a group of 22 investors being currently considered by a New York court.

Mortgage applications unexpectedly decreased by 9.6% with refinancing activity dipping 12.2% and purchase activity increasing 0.9%, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today.

CoreLogic said recently hired financial advisory firm Greenhill & Co. will evaluate the company's financial strategy and “explore a wide range of options aimed at enhancing shareholder value,” up to and including a possible sale or merger of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based provider of mortgage and property data, analytics, technology and services.

Bank of America later today is expected to unveil a major announcement about its residential mortgage business, including an update on its future as a correspondent buyer of home mortgages, according to industry officials.

Lender Processing Services' (LPS) July Mortgage Monitor report showed that foreclosure timelines are still on their steady upward trend with payments not having been made on the average loan in foreclosure in a record 599 days.

Late yesterday, Standard & Poor's affirmed ratings on 239 ABS classes of FFELP-backed SLABS that it placed on credit watch negative last July.

Sovereign Bank is taking its credit card operations in house.

Citigroup is marketing Apidos Capital Management’s new $395 million CLO, according to people familiar with the deal.