Securitization

The U.S. Treasury Department held its conference on the future of housing finance this morning. Among the speakers at the gathering were U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and PIMCO founder Bill Gross.

With more clarity on the Federal Reserve's mortgage portfolio, JPMorgan Securities turned to how the market's composition will shift.

Santander is in the market with an auto ABS deal worth $700.5 million. The five-tranche offering is lead managed by JPMorgan Securities, Credit Suisse, and Wells Fargo.

Today the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released guidance on reverse mortgages.

Financial institutions are continuing to show limited signs of a greater willingness to lend to businesses, according to a survey released Monday by the Federal Reserve Board.

CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., reports that — albeit modestly at 1.4% compared to 2009 — in June, year-over-year U.S. home prices (including distressed sale prices) increased for the fifth consecutive month.

Foreign investors' net purchases of agency MBS continued to trend upward in June, rising to $20.4 billion from $17.3 billion in May and $10.5 billion in April, according to a report by Credit Suisse analysts.But foreign investors on a net basis sold $2.2 billion in agency debt in June, a contrast to net purchases of $10.1 billion in May and $3.8 billion in April.

John Walsh, the former chief of staff to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is now the acting Comptroller of the agency that supervises national banks.

General Growth Properties (GGP), the Chicago REIT that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2009, reported a loss of $117.5 million, or 37 cents a share, in the second quarter of this year, compared with a loss of $158.4 million, or 51 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2009.

The week after Wells Fargo & Co. announced the closing of its storefront subprime lending unit, Citigroup's chief executive delivered an impassioned defense of keeping alive his similar operation, CitiFinancial.

While the Basel II process dragged on for years, international and domestic regulators appear intent on delivering a new set of capital and liquidity standards on time by yearend.

Defunct bond insurer Syncora Guarantee last week reported positive net income for the second quarter, reflecting the broad success of the major restructuring it initiated in July 2009 and completed in April.

Ginnie Mae is raising its net worth requirement for MBS issuers, requiring them to meet bank-like capital standards.

Rates once again proved federal officials' go-to choice for economic policy action last week but when it comes to sizing up potential economic recovery as part of mortgage investment strategies one might do better these days watching jobs over the traditional duo of rates and real estate markets.

The New York Supreme Court on Monday denied Credit Suisse’s motion to dismiss MBIA Insurance Corp.’s claims of mortgage-related fraud and breach of contract.

Underwriters, financial advisers, and lawyers interested in working on Illinois’ proposed sale of up to $1.75 billion of tobacco bonds to provide budgetary relief have until Aug. 27 to submit proposals to the state.

Credit Suisse expects mortgage repurchase demands to remain strong throughout the remainder of the year, but believes the worst of it might be over when 2010 ends.

New Mexico Education Assitance Foundation is in the market with a $383 million transaction backed by FFELP loans.

During the boom years, mortgage lenders paid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a small fee for accepting stated-income loans. Today those lenders are paying a whole lot more.

Mortgage insurance companies, which have been bleeding massive amounts of red ink for two years, could see their prospects brighten in a post-Fannie Mae/Freddie world, according to one proposal making the rounds in Washington.