Securitization

For several months now market participants have speculated whether the government would intervene in the CLO market.

The Federal Reserve Board has expanded its new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) to help cash strapped mortgage servicers that pay advances to MBS investors to cover missed payments by delinquent homeowners.

While the gap between REO sales prices and the rest of the market was very slim prior to 2007, a new study from Lender Processing Services (LPS) in Jacksonville, Fla. shows that gap is growing at an accelerating pace.

The Treasury Department has explained how to use a new Web site that allows homeowners to learn about Obama administration's new housing plan and whether they can qualify for a loan modification.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges hired derivatives and structured products legal expert Daniel Cunningham as part of the firm's New York office.

Xtract Research and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) launched their new bank loan credit agreement analysis product titled LSTA Xtract Bank Debt Review. LSTA Xtract Bank Debt Review offers a comprehensive analysis of credit agreements about newly issued loans and loans in the secondary market for public and private documents.

When Lee Hayes, Dick Stack and John Dwyer called some 75 U.S. investors -– institutional accounts that include mutual funds and insurers –- early this year they were pleasantly surprised. All of these market players were ready to do business with their little-known brokerage firm, Northeast Securities, which just started its big push into fixed income.

Negotiations over bankruptcy cram down provisions in a housing bill have hit a snag and Senate Democratic leaders have put off legislative action until late April.

Two credit card deals are giving life to what has thus far been an auto-dominated ABS market.

U.S. commercial property prices are off 19% from year-ago levels and down 21% from an October 2007 peak, according to a measure of property values published on Thursday by Moody's Investors Service.

At a time when a number of investment managers are selling loan portfolios to recoup whatever they can, BlueMountain Capital Management, a privately owned investment management firm, has launched the BlueMountain Corporate Loan Fund, a fund that will focus on distressed U.S. leveraged loans.

The head of Nomura’s leveraged finance group in Europe has left to start a new debt advisory firm, and has taken a few other bankers with him, according to the Financial News.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates fell to 4.98% from 5.03% last week.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) published its Turner Review, a report on recommendations for reforming the U.K. banking system and the rest of the global financial markets.

Huntington Bancshares appointed Randall Stickler as senior executive vice president and director of commercial real estate effective April 16.

Cheyne Capital appointed Nicolas Vocos as ABS analyst. The new hire will be responsible for modeling and analytics in Cheyne Capital's ABS group.

The Federal Reserve announced that it will buy an additional $750 billion in agency MBS through the end of the year.

Cantor Fitzgerald has expanded its debt capital markets group, adding 25 new investment professionals since December, the New York-based firm announced today.

Issuers Ford Motor Credit Co. and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. are jumping on the Term ABS Loan Facility (TALF) bandwagon by coming to market with TALF-eligible auto transactions. Both deals are scheduled to price today.

Mortgage applications during the week ended March 13 rose 21.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, bolstered by close to a 30% week-to-week jump in refinancing that some think could mark the beginning of an upward trend.