Securitization

UBS during the second quarter still was working on reducing monoline insurance risks that can be traced partially back to U.S. residential real estate finance exposures, but it said in an earnings report that as of July it had agreed to commute certain trades with insurers, mitigating those bond insurance risks.

Fitch Ratings continues to predict a negative outlook for the U.K. credit card ABS sector. Recent performance trends support this, as they demonstrate a general decline across the sector.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded 270 bonds from 59 residential mortgage-backed securities transactions to 'D.'

The Mortgage Bankers Association Market Composite Index increased 4.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended July 31 when compared with the previous week.

Federal regulators are working on providing capital relief for banks that have to bring securitized assets back on their balance sheets due to a change in the accounting rules that goes into effect at yearend.

James Lockhart, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) who spent years pressing for stricter oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is expected to imminently announce his resignation, according to several sources.

ConvergEx is collaborating with Standish Asset Management Co.’s global workout solutions group.

Barclays reported a $1.1 billion loss on its U.S. subprime loans during the first half of 2009 but the London banking company still generated £2.98 billion ($5.05 billion) in pre-tax profit for the period.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has temporarily suspended Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp., from making new Federal Housing Administration loans and seized the company's $25 billion Ginnie Mae servicing portfolio pending the completion of an investigation by the HUD Inspector General.

Jefferies and Co., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, hired Eric Ollom as senior vice president and chief strategist for Jefferies’ emerging markets sales and trading business, which forms part of the firm’s fixed-income division.

Senate Banking Committee members on Tuesday challenged a key call the Obama administration made on regulatory restructuring — to keep oversight spread over several agencies.

Treasury Department officials acknowledged Tuesday that new data on loan modifications showed that many servicers are underperforming in trying to carry out the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention plan, but they appeared to have little leeway to force improvements.

GE Capital is in the market with a dealer floorplan transaction. The lead manager on the offering is Banc of America Securities. The transaction is eligible under the Term ABS Loan Facility.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has named Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. as executive vice president, public policy and advocacy and head of its Washington, D.C. office.

GMAC Financial Services, New York, had an after-tax net loss of $3.9 billion for the second quarter 2008, which includes a $1.6 million loss on the disposition of international mortgage assets and provisions, impairments and reserves on U.S. mortgage assets.

The Treasury Department said the 38 servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are conducting more than 235,000 trial modifications and released its first monthly report on each servicer's performance.

Pending home sales, a key leading indicator for the resale sector, were up in June for the fifth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Federal regulators are starting to put pressure on banks to recognize losses on second liens in markets where the first mortgage is underwater due to declining house values.

After filing the largest real estate bankruptcy case in history last April, General Growth Properties (GGP) has identified substantive consolidation of its special purpose entities (SPEs) as a real possibility in its proceedings.

The latest results from London-based HSBC Holdings show its mortgage business in the United States and two other regions improving in some respects, but runoff of troubled legacy assets still leaves U.S. operations with net losses.