Securitization

Delinquency rates were mixed in the second quarter for commercial/multifamily mortgage investor groups, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report.

Markit plans to launch an MBX agency mortgage bond index on Sept. 12. The new Index offers investors exposure to both interest-only swaps and principle-only cash flows.

The outlook for commercial real estate (CRE) loans backing CMBS continues to improve becuase of increased activity in the CMBS new issue market and strong demand for distressed CRE loans in the secondary market, according to DebtX.

Mortgage servicers completed 120,350 proprietary loan modifications in July and 757,750 for the first seven months of this year, according to new figures released by the HOPE NOW Alliance.

MetLife Bank plans to officially launch its new warehouse lending division in the fourth quarter and is in the process of hiring between four and six additional staffers for the business.

The U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA) will apply banking book risk weights to securitization trading positions following the position adopted under the capital requirements directive (CRD 3) passed by the European Parliament at the end of July.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair said Tuesday the agency would soon publish an interim rule on its new resolution authority over systemically important banking companies and certain nonbanks.

Cole Real Estate Investments hired William Broms as director of acquisitions. The move was announced by Marc Nemer, president of the firm.

Dennis Cariello has joined DLA Piper's New York office. In his new position, Cariello will continue to focus on higher education issues. He will also be serving as a co-chair of the new education and education services group.

Mortgage bankers originated $25.9 billion of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgages in July, down nearly 2% from June, according to new figures released by the agency.

Mortgage rates continue to set new record lows with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate based on the Freddie Mac'sweekly survey dropping to below 4.40% with the no-points rate slightly over 4.50%.

Fitch Ratings stated that as of July 20 defaults on U.S. bank Trust Preferred Security (TruPS) CDOs eclipsed the 14% mark on 11 new bank defaults.

In late August, an entity of the State of Mexico known as IFREM originated a roughly Ps4 billion ($306 million), 20-year deal backed by flows from property registration fees. Structured by MBIA unit LatAm Capital Advisors (LCA), the transaction was novel on a number of fronts.

In May, a water project vital to the Peruvian capital of Lima issued a securitization in the domestic market.

The securitization market just can't seem to get a break. From tougher regulations to a battered economy, our industry seems at times to be facing an all-out assault.

Loan modifications are being credited with playing a key role in the improving delinquency picture for home mortgages, but housing economists and analysts caution that the industry isn't out of the woods quite yet.

While it's clear that tighter rules for securitization are on their way, varying approaches to the issue by different agencies are making bankers and issuers uneasy.

The Federal Reserve announced in August that the central bank would be purchasing Treasurys by using the proceeds from maturing MBS to support the country's economic recovery.

Citigroup has arranged a $600 million CLO that will be managed by Guggenheim Investment Management, according to sources.

While the Wall Street reform bill passed this summer did not directly address the GSEs, it nonetheless affected future prospects for restructuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As I wrote last month, the bill created a series of impediments to any timely revival of the private-label MBS market, making the housing markets highly dependent on agency-backed funding. As a result, GSE reform will be limited by the need to avoid short-term disruptions that would freeze financing for the housing markets.