Securitization

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled an insider-trading civil action case against former Boston-based Evergreen Investment Management Chief Administrative Officer and Senior VP Charles Marquardt.

Bennett Jones hired Michael Clifford for its Toronto office as partner. The firm said that Clifford has an active corporate finance practice and specializes in ABS and similar structured finance and derivative transactions.

Investment banking firm Jefferies has tapped former Federal Reserve Board advisor David Zervos to lead its global fixed-income strategy.

For the fourth quarter of 2009, nonperforming assets decreased from the prior quarter by $289 million for KeyCorp in Cleveland, Ohio, for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2006.

Fitch Ratings on Thursday upgraded the short- and long-term issuer default ratings on GMAC, in the wake of the Treasury Department recently pumping $3.8 billion into the struggling company.

Ginnie Mae has experienced tremendous growth in the last few years, therefore it faces operational challenges, according to Theodore Tozer, President Obama's nominee to be the agency's new president.

Tighter underwriting guidelines unveiled Wednesday by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will make it harder for lenders to qualify borrowers in a year when origination volumes are already expected to tank.

All banks and thrifts are having problems with commercial real estate loans, not just small community banks, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair.

A team of mortgage finance and investment management professionals formally launched BlackBox Logic.

For the week ending Jan. 21, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.99% with an average 0.7 point, down seven basis points from last week, Freddie Mac reported.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) has set up a new ABCP program Weinberg Capital. The new conduit will issue ABCP in the European market up to a maximum program limit of €5 billion ($7 billion).

Bank of America Auto Trust is in the market with an auto-backed ABS. The $1.5 billion deal is lead by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

High unemployment levels will slow the pending housing recovery, economists speaking at the National Association of Home Builders' annual convention in Las Vegas agreed.

The performance of prime RMBS from 2005 to 2008, while better than other types of RMBS from that timeframe, has deteriorated at a faster pace, according to DBRS.

ABS market players, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts, are speculating that the U.S. Treasury Department will soon be coming out with new Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) guidance.

For investors who expect mortgage rates to rise over 2010, Wells Fargo MBS analysts suggested structured products such as intermediate PACs and PAC IIs.

As expected, CIT Group selected one of its directors, 64-year-old Peter Tobin, to serve as acting chief executive.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is trying to bolster its depleted cash reserves, unveiled tighter underwriting guidelines Wednesday morning.

Mortgage application activity increased in the week ending Jan. 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Fitch Ratings placed 23 more tranches of structured finance Dutch RMBS fully or partially backed by the Nationale Hypotheek Garantee (NHG) on Rating Watch Negative.