Securitization

For banks looking to sell nonperforming assets, pricing realities are not ideal. But they have become increasingly tolerable.

Although a handful of bidders have pondered the thought of buying roughly $40 billion of servicing rights being peddled by HSBC Bank USA, it appears the deal has stalled for now.

Michael Wade will be leaving Credit Suisse. Wade was hired by Credit Suisse from Barclays Capital about a year ago as a managing director and co-head of asset finance in the global markets solutions group along with Tricia Hazelwood.

Home equity loans were part and parcel of the mortgage bubble, and the bust has transformed them into one of the mostsignificant loose ends in a crisis that still appears far from resolution.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today voted unanimously to propose amendments that would remove references to credit ratings in several rules under the Exchange Act.

Mortgage rates declined for the second week in a row and are near or at record lows for 2011.

Fannie Mae reported a 4.2% increase in MBS issuance for March while the other GSEs — Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae — registered month-over-month declines.

General Growth Properties (GGP) has identified 28 properties classified as “Discontinued Operations” of which 17 were previously sold or returned to the lender in its latest earnings report.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded 439 bonds in 244 RMBS transactions to "Dsf." The rating agency explained that the downgraded bonds have all incurred a principal write-down.

The price of commercial real estate loans that are securitized dropped a mere 10 basis points between February and March, showing signs of stabilization in the market, an expert said.

Rising energy and food prices continue to stress the consumer's ability to spend disposable income and can derail the economy if things get much worse, according to James Frischling, president at NewOak Capital.

KAR Auction Services said that its subsidiaries Automotive Finance Corp. (AFC) and AFC Funding Corp. have entered into the fourth securitization agreement with BMO Capital Markets Corp., Deutsche Bank , and Barclays Bank.

Student loan defaults have improved dramatically since peaking in 2009, according to Moody’s Investors Service's private student loan indices.

Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp. said that certain of its subsidiaries are going to refinance their outstanding securitization debt with a new securitization debt facility. The underwriter on the transaction is Barclays Capital.

The National Credit Union Administration is in the market with NCUA Guaranteed Notes Trust 2011-R6.

Turkey’s DenizBank has issued €300 million of bonds backed by diversified payment rights (DPRs) through five series of notes via WestLB. The transaction was a club deal, going to multilaterals the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corp. (IFC) and the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG). The arranger itself took a piece as well.

CMG Mortgage has hired Todd Hempstead, a Fannie Mae veteran of 25 years, to work with private investors interested in buying and securitizing conforming and Jumbo mortgages.

Mortgage application activity dropped 5.6% in the week ending April 22 despite a decline in mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). However, the number was not adjusted for the Good Friday holiday.

When global regulators last year announced final international capital and liquidity standards, bankers for the first time in months breathed a sigh of relief, appearing even to welcome the agreement.

Blackstone Group obtained an $800 million loan from JPMorgan Chase to refinance debt backed by 13 hotels, according to a Bloomberg report. The debt is expected to be restructured as a CMBS, the report said.