Securitization

New Star head of fixed income James Gledhill will join Henderson Global Investors when the merger between the firms is completed, according to market reports. He will report to Henderson bond manager James Pattullo.

Though bank stocks and the broader markets soared Monday after the Treasury Department released details of its public-private partnership plan to buy banks' toxic assets, analysts questioned whether the rally is sustainable, particularly ahead of first-quarter earnings reports.

The upcoming March remittance report is expected to show favorable seasonal effects, which should help slow the growth of delinquencies over the month.

Residential lenders could originate nearly $2.8 trillion in single-family mortgages this year — a stunning turnaround from last year when fundings totaled about $1.6 trillion, according to a new estimate made by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Richard Bernstein, chief investment strategist and head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment strategy group, as well as David Rosenberg, the firm’s chief economist, are leaving the firm, according to an internal memo obtained by ASR sister publication IDD.

Even though the mortgage insurance business is in the tank, the former head of the Radian Group is in the process of forming a new MI firm that also will act as a reinsurer, industry executives confirmed to ASR sister publication National Mortgage News.

Jim Clapp, senior vice president in charge of warehouse lending at Guaranty Financial Group, is leaving the bank, industry sources told National Mortgage News. Clapp declined to comment on the matter.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded 18 tranches and affirmed two tranches of the Madrid RMBS I, II and III transactions following a performance review.

Societe Generale analysts said that the unaddressed question of ABS paper illiquidity in Europe remains a problem for the Continent's securitization market.

Clifford Chance said it plans to transfer real estate, corporate and capital markets partners to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by 0.7% over 4Q08 to $3.5 trillion, reported the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Monday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) officials are ready to begin discussions with banks that want to sell pools of troubled real estate loans under its new Legacy Assets program, but it could be three or more months before the agency is ready to conduct the first competitive sealed bid auctions.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) seized control of the nation's two largest corporate credit unions on Friday due to growing losses on their private label MBS.

BigBidder.com, a Web site created by LFC Group of Cos. for auctioning notes online, has opened up to a wider investor base, offering open access to qualified investors to purchase individual notes.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced late Thursday that it had closed its deal to sell the failed IndyMac Bank.

Ginnie Mae is poised to play a role in easing the warehouse lending liquidity crisis but does not think it will be a direct lender.

The Treasury Department on Monday unveiled two separate programs for the removal of more than $500 billion in toxic private-label MBS and bad real estate loans from the balance sheets of financial institutions.

The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) announced the formation of a new special interest group which will focus on representing the needs of investors in the covered bond market.

Fitch Ratings downgraded 78 tranches (69 public ratings and nine private ratings) and affirmed 18 tranches (all public) from 38 European structured finance CDOs.

Markit announced the launch of a credit default swap (CDS) data and information portal designed to increase transparency and provide a broader audience with a tool to monitor the market.