Securitization

The recent uproar over regulators' "qualified residential mortgage" (QRM) proposal has obscured the importance of another underwriting standard in the Dodd-Frank Act, the similarly titled "qualified mortgage" (QM).

Chief executives from the country's largest banks sent a letter to the White House and Congress Thursday urging them to reach an agreement the week of July 25 to raise the debt ceiling.

The U.S. homeownership rate fell by less than half-a-point in the second quarter to 65.9% as foreclosures accelerated and consumers put off buying homes because of fears about prices and the economy.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is planning to raise a second publicly traded fund to invest in leveraged loans.

Bank of America over the past 10 days tried – and failed – to sell roughly $50 billion of 'legacy' mortgage servicing rights, according to servicing advisors familiar with the auction.

The U.S. CMBS default rate jumped to 12.9% at the end of the second quarter of 2011, marking a 228 basis point increase since the end of 2010, according to Fitch Ratings.

A new report by Amherst Securities Group (ASG) examines how the recent Bank of America settlement has the potential to significantly impact Countrywide securities that comprise the Covered Trusts. Although the market seems to treat these securities in the same way, ASG said that the impact will vary from security to security.

Let's skip ahead to Aug. 3. The debt ceiling hasn't moved an inch and the United States no longer enjoys a coveted triple-A credit rating. Now what?

The slowly reviving CLO market is getting a boost from an unexpected source: one of the biggest financial blowups in history.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next Thursday on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) received many comment letters strongly criticizing its May 26 preemption proposal. Unfortunately, the OCC largely ignored those criticisms and wrote final rules that blatantly violate the Dodd-Frank Act.

The heads of CMBS trading at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs departed this week according to a Bloomberg report.

U.S. senior fixed-income investors are taking a more conservative view of cross asset credit conditions on the back of recent macroeconomic concerns, according to a Fitch Ratings fixed-income forum survey of fixed income professionals, conducted in June.

Ocwen Financial Corp. is again helping itself financially by cutting distressed homeowners an unusual break.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has added new foreclosure guidelines to its two existing manuals, according to a MERS press release.

An index that gives insight into future home sales rose 2.4% in June after jumping 8.2% in May, a sign that not all consumers are spooked by the housing market.

A Texas investment firm has launched a new fund to invest in subordinated debt and take mezzanine stakes in what it calls “carefully selected” mortgage banking firms.

U.K. mortgage lender Paragon said preparations for its next securitization deal are well on the way.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates rose three basis points to 4.55% with an average 0.8 point for the week ending July 28.

A new report by Amherst Securities Group (ASG) stressed the importance of investors helping the recovery of the still-fragile housing market.