Securitization

The default rates rose for each of the indices this month, which were at 15.7%, 13.5%, 14.3%, and 12.2% CDR for the 06-1 through 07-2 indices, reported Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts. This represents changes of 7.3, 3.6, 4.5, and 2.7 points, respectively.

Fitch Ratings, in a recent report, updated the “Challenge Factors” (CFs) assigned to 36 emerging market countries in 2009.

Mortgage application activity fell 12.9% in the holiday-shortened week ending Jan. 14 with both refinancings and purchases declining.

As the paintball game speeds up and all major players dodge faster to avoid designation as bearers of systemic risk, let's not get fixated on "too big to fail" as the past or future cause of the disaster.

A Canadian CMBS transaction called Institutional Mortgage Securities Canada Inc., Series 2011-1. is in the market. The eight-tranche transaction is managed by TD Securities.

Ambac Assurance Corp.’s rehabilitation plan was accepted Tuesday by a Wisconsin state court.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft hired Joseph Beach for its Charlotte office as special counsel in the capital markets department. His practice will focus on loan finance and securitization.

It may not be clear when the private-label securitized market will come back, but the developments that will likely shape it are coming into focus: the GSEs and the pending qualified residential mortgage (QRM) definition/risk retention regulation.

Fitch Ratings' ABCP credit outlook for 2011 remains stable, which is in line with the outlooks for the global financial institutions that are the liquidity and credit enhancement providers to ABCP programs.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) released its detailed agenda for its ASF 2011 conference that will be held in Orlando, Florida from Feb. 6-9.

The U.S. Treasury released details on the legacy securities public-private investment program (PPIP) capital activity.

Home prices fell another 1% in November and values are just 3.2 percentage points above their April 2009 low, a sign that a double dip recession is in store for the nation's housing stock, according to figures compiled by Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller.

Investors, as well as issuers of MBS with government guarantees, should take a hit if the underlying loans go bad, according to former GSE regulator James Lockhart.

New York Life Insurance Co., TIAA-CREF, the French bank Dexia and other institutional investors joined the list of bondholders seeking compensation from Bank of America Corp. over losses on Countrywide's MBS.

The Obama administration will not make its Jan. 31st deadline for proposing reforms to the GSEs, an administration official said Monday.

The biggest obstacle to reforming mortgage servicing may be that regulators cannot agree on the proper vehicle for it.

Banks are in for tougher negotiations with retailers over store credit card programs if a Federal Reserve proposal is finalized.

Sidley Austin promoted Chicago-based lawyer T.J. Gordon to partner in its structured finance and securitization and syndicated and leveraged finance groups.

Martin Fingerhut, previously a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon's (Blakes) financial services group and chair of the law firm's structured finance group, is moving to Cassels Brock & Blackwell, another Canadian law firm based in Toronto. Fingerhut was hired as a senior partner and head of the firm's securitization group.

Ginnie Mae is weighing its options on what to do with $22 billion in servicing rights it yanked away from Taylor Bean & Whitaker (TBW)in the summer of 2009.