Securitization

Markit will be launching the Markit IOS index tomorrow. The new release is a synthetic total return swap index that will be referencing the interest component of 30-year fixed-rate Fannie Mae RMBS pools.

Subprime RMBS prices in the U.S. reversed course this past month, with most vintages rising in value, reported Fitch Solutions based on the firm's latest CDS of RMBS indices results.

Freddie Mac reported further easing in mortgage rates in the week ending March 11. The 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.95%, down two basis points from last week and its lowest level since mid-February.

Barney Frank's call for banks to forgive principal on second liens was music to the ears of mortgage bond investors who have been pushing the idea for about a year.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Wednesday defended the administration's decision not to outline a plan for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until 2011, saying it was focused on other issues.

A scathing report by a Congressional watchdog examining the bailout of GMAC found that the Treasury Department did not adequately protect taxpayer money.

Sierra Receivables is in the market with a timeshare-backed transaction. The $250 million offering is lead managed by Credit Suisse.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) sold $1.37 billion of structured guaranteed notes backed by residential and construction loan assets from Corus Bank. It follows its debut offering from last week.

ResCap has been working to change a practice involving the netting of cash flows of multiple RMBS deals serviced by its GMAC Mortgage (GMACM) subsidiary.

St. Louis, Mo.-based firm Alpine Capital Research (ACR) has added Daryl Grayson to help oversee “the firm’s marketing and sales efforts to the financial intermediary and institutional channels,” an announcement said today.

GMAC's Chief Financial Officer Robert Hull said he would be leaving the company by the end of this month, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Hull will be joining private equity firm Providence Equity Partners next month as its CFO.

Ginnie Mae should be given its independence from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), its former president said. Murin left Ginnie Mae this past summer.

The Carlyle Group has nabbed former Morgan Stanley sales and trading chief Michael “Mitch” Petrick as its first global head of credit alternatives and capital markets, the private-equity firm said today.

The Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) yesterday advanced more than $800 million of new-money and refunding debt planned by various organizations, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Alexian Brothers Health System, and Palos Community Hospital.

1010data secured a $35 million minority equity investment from global venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners (NVP).

Bill Petersohn, director of bulk acquisitions and capital market sales for Residential Capital Corp., Horsham, Pa., has resigned from the mortgage banker to take a job with an analytics firm.

Commercial banks will be big buyers of agency MBS this year and help keep mortgage rates in check after the Federal Reserve withdraws from the market, according to the head of securitization strategy at Barclays Capital.

NIBC Bank, a Netherlands based bank, began marketing a EUR750million ($1.02 billion) prime Dutch residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank last Friday sent a letter addressed to the four largest providers of U.S. mortgages asking for a write down of second liens to prevent "a deepening crisis" in the U.S. housing market.

Fitch Ratings is seeking feedback from market participants in respect to its revised criteria for rating transactions of Dutch mortgages backed by the Nationale Hypotheek Guarantie (NHG), a state-sponsored guarantee that compensates lenders and issuers for potential losses on guaranteed mortgages.