Securitization

Calyon has hired a Citigroup veteran as its head of loan syndication sales and trading for the Americas, the New York-based firm said today.

House and Senate appropriators are increasing the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) resources to combat mortgage fraud, update its technology, while increasing the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) lending capacity to $400 billion.

HOPE NOW launched a new web portal allowing Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counseling agencies to submit completed Home Afforable Modification Program (HAMP) applications for borrowers at-risk of foreclosure.

Mortgage rates moved off their record lows this week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.

Friesland Bank is planning to sell bonds backed by prime Dutch residential mortgages, according to market reports.

The International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers (IACPM) has re-elected Mark Hughes, global head of credit at RBC Capital Markets, as its chairperson, and Sean Kavanagh, global head of loan exposure management at Deutsche Bank, as vice chairperson. The pair will serve one-year terms through the end of 2010.

Fitch Ratings will be rating the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) Series 2009-1 FRN student loan ABS notes, Series 2009-1.

The U.K. Debt Management Office (DMO) and the London Stock Exchange appointed Jefferies International as a Gilt-edged Market Maker (GEMM).

Data due out today from RealtyTrac shows foreclosure filings fell 8% in November from October but were still up 18% from the year earlier.

In coming weeks, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans to lift the 1% cap on origination fees for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages, sources close to the agency said.

After several hours delay on Wednesday, House leaders conceded to pressure by moderate Democrat Rep. Melissa Bean, of Illinois, to broaden proposed powers of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to preempt state consumer protection laws for national banks.

Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on 1,862 classes of RMBS backed by prime jumbo mortgages issued from 2002 through 2004.

Federal Reserve data reported this week showed that consumer debt continues to fall.

John Melvin will lead Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) insurance fixed-income asset management business as a managing director and head of insurance fixed-income.

As the House begins discussion of a massive regulatory reform bill tomorrow, preemption and haircuts for secured creditors are likely to provoke intense debate.

JPMorgan Chase has 140,000 borrowers in Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) payment trials, but only 16% have been approved (or ready to be approved) for a permanent modification, a Chase executive told Congress.

Low rates have led to adverse selection and performance deterioration in 2005 subprime residential MBS while low loan-to-value ratios have limited the prepayment concern for other recent vintages, according to a new report from Fitch Solutions.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it would extend the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to Oct. 3, 2010.

The nation's top accounting regulator told banking supervisors Tuesday they are free to apply their own judgments to bank financial statements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday slapped the now-defunct Brookstreet Securities Corp., Irvine, Calif., with civil fraud charges, accusing it of causing "substantial investor losses" on the sale of $300 million worth of CMOs.