Securitization

Prospect Mortgage said it has started offering prime Jumbo loans with balances of up to $2 million. It plans to sell these loans to firms aiming to tap the private-label MBS market.

Brazos Higher Education Authority (BHEA Series 2011-1) is offering a $1.5 billion student loans ABS.

A new £350 million ($565.4 million) U.K. RMBS deal for the Skipton Building Society began marketing this week, according to market reports.

Servicers are bracing for a challenging future where the way they redefine their risk-pricing measures will determine their ability to survive.

The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) are joining together to boost their capital strength and hopefully stave off harsher measures the Obama administration is considering.

A proposed settlement between the five largest servicers and state and federal agencies was reportedly distributed to the largest banks and to select government officials.

Several prominent Republicans, including Sen. Richard Shelby, the Banking Committee's top Republican, sharply criticized a proposed settlement between the five largest servicers and state and federal agencies, arguing that the government authorities were trying to usurp Congress' role.

Banks could turn to covered bonds as a possible solution to balance sheet woes, industry sources said.

Lenders can and should take any number of steps to prevent class action law suits. But that still may not keep them from being sued, a team of regulatory attorneys warned at the Real Estate Service Providers Council's annual meeting in Las Vegas.

Although executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would love to see their dividend payments to the U.S. Treasury cut in half, it's unlikely that it will happen, according to a new report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW).

House Republicans are set to send a letter today to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner raising concerns about a proposed settlement deal between the five largest servicers and various state and federal enforcement agencies.

If banks were looking for a palatable trade-off in state and federal regulators' plan to revamp mortgage servicing practices, they didn't find it.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said it will not be looking at risk retention and qualified residential mortgage (QRM) provisions as part of its agenda for its March 15 board meeting.

For years, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and consumer advocates tried to enact legislation that would allow judges to reduce mortgage principal in bankruptcy proceedings, only to be repeatedly defeated by the banking industry.

Mortgage application activity increased 15.5% in the week ending March 4 with gains in both refinancing and purchase activity.

The Federal Reserve's March 7 report on January consumer credit outstanding showed data pointing to the start of a recovery in consumers’ willingness to maintain debt.

Research findings are adding up to fears that the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) sharp loan volume increase of recent years is moving the agency “into uncharted, risky territory” making it more crucial than ever for policy makers to come up with “a delicate balancing act” that would ensure the FHA “is not pushed too far.”

Moody’s Analytics just released Mortgage Portfolio Analyzer (MPA), a new risk management and capital allocation tool that assists retail portfolio managers analyze and manage their mortgage portfolios's credit risk.

Federal regulators are working toward a very narrow definition of “qualified residential mortgage” (QRM) that would force securitizers of high-quality loans to retain 5% of the credit risk.

Assured Guaranty announced today that chief operating officer Séan W. McCarthy will be leaving the company at the end of the month to “pursue other opportunities.”