Securitization

Volkswagen is preparing to issue a new auto ABS deal with fixed-rate notes called Private Driver 2010-1.

Standard & Poor's has appointed Grace Osborne as business leader for U.S. mortgages in the firm's structured finance ratings group.

The number of "underwater" loans fell slightly to 11 million units in the second quarter, representing 23% of all outstanding mortgages in the U.S., according to new figures compiled by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.

Fannie Mae issued $42.7 billion in MBS in July, up 6.4% from June, and the highest level of MBS issuance since February for the GSE.

The Practicing Law Institute has published the first edition of Covered Bonds Handbook. Morrison & Foerster partners Anna Pinedo and James Tanenbaum edited the publication and wrote several chapters.

Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 10 weeks with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan bottoming out at 4.36% for the period ending Aug. 26, according to Freddie Mac.

Walter Investment Management Corp., Tampa, has agreed to buy Marix Servicing of Arizona for what the companies call a "nominal" sum, according to a new public filing.

Obvion, which is jointly owned by Cooperative Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank (Rabobank) and Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (ABP), is in the market wtih a €909 million ($1.155 billion) Dutch RMBS called Storm 2010-3 B.V.

Three years after the onset of the financial crisis, securitization market players are now focusing more on finding different restructuring options for ABS deals, according to the Henderson Global Investors' structured products team.

For the August ABX remittance report, default rates dropped an average of 2.2 points across the four indices, according to a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Loren Carlson and Edward Chan joined M.R. Beal & Co. as managing director and vice president, respectively. Both hires will be part of the firm’s public finance department.

Residential delinquencies and foreclosures on all mortgages fell in the second quarter on a sequential basis for the period ending June 30, but the elevated level of late payments has the industry grappling with $963 billion worth of troubled loans.

Bond salesmen, peddling trillions of dollars of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fixed-income securities to investors all over the world, said something like this: "You can't go wrong buying this, because it is really a U.S. government credit, but it pays you a higher yield! So you get more profit with no credit risk."

It would be easier for underwater borrowers to utilize the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) if Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and banks drop their fees on these refinancings, according to the Amherst Securities Group (ASG).

Ginnie Mae beginning in September and thereafter will be releasing its monthly disclosure file on outstanding Ginnie Mae securities around 10 business days earlier than it previously did, the agency announced today.

Fitch Ratings assigned Concent Forderungsmanagement (Concent) a German ABS primary servicer rating of 'ABPS3.' It is the first such rating assigned to a European ABS servicer.

Though the regulatory reform law took a crucial step toward simplifying mortgage disclosures by ordering a new consumer protection regulator to harmonize two conflicting statutes, the road ahead will be long and difficult.

The housing and mortgage markets were hit with yet another blast of ugly news Wednesday morning with new home sales falling 12.4% in July and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)reporting that purchase money loans now account for just 17.6% of all new loan applications.

Mortgage loan applications rose 4.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended Aug. 20, and grew 4.5% on an unadjusted basis, as refinancings increased as mortgage rates fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday.

Almost 14% of loan modifications completed in the first quarter of 2010 involved principal reductions of at least 10%, according to the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group.