Securitization

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is experiencing "a large number of zero payment defaults" in which borrowers fail to make even one payment on their new government-insured mortgages.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed changes to its "other-than-temporary impairment" rules that should relieve many institutions from taking sharp losses on their holdings of MBS.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number (MIN) and cause confusion in the industry.

The Federal Reserve's targeted buying primarily in the lower part of the coupon stack (4.5s and 5s) has made these coupons rich versus the rest of the stack, FTN Financial analysts said.

Yesterday the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued two proposed staff positions (FSPs) aimed at providing added application guidance on fair value measurements and impairments of securities.

Loan modifications by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose 76% from the third quarter the fourth, said the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Aquila Capital, the Hamburg-based alternative investment company, has appointed Lauren Damask as managing director, head of global client advisory.

The new Italian Tremonti Decree may impact Italian RMBS and Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite (OBG) programs, Fitch Ratings said.

Yesterday Texas State Securities Commissioner Denise Voight Crawford signed a final consent order that requires Wachovia Securities to pay close to $4 million. The firm is registered as a securities dealer in the State of Texas.

Delinquency as well as charge-off rates for credit card asset-backed trusts are still increasing on a year-over-year and month-over-month basis, according to a report released today from Merrill Lynch/Bank of America.

There are two different recommendations regarding the common stock of PMI Group, Walnut Creek, Calif., after the company announced both a fourth quarter loss and its search for new capital.

Thornburg Mortgage, once a top ranked originator of "super jumbo" loans, said Tuesday it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has hired the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis to advise it on restructuring options.

Fitch Solutions extended the launch of its liquidity scores and percentile rankings for widely traded CDS assets to investors.

CDO shop Aladdin Capital Holdings started a film financing unit and a broker-dealer as part of an expansion effort outside of CDOs, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Bank of England (BoE) released its quarterly bulletin and said that primary sterling RMBS markets remain effectively closed, at least for publicly issued securities. In general, the bank said that it did not expect a sustained improvement in market conditions during 2009.

Just days after Congress echoed the industry's criticisms, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) moved Monday to ease rules that have resulted in massive writedowns.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced that it would significantly increase liquidity via additional repo operations, purchases of Swiss franc bonds of private borrowers, and currency interventions.It cut its interest rate in half to 0.05%..

Investors planning to tap the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) will have two extra days to apply for funds, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Friday.

Senate Democratic leaders want to pass a bankruptcy cram-down bill in the next three weeks, but it could get bottled up in the Senate Banking Committee, which has no jurisdiction over the bankruptcy code.

Morgan Stampfl is looking for two mortgage finance associates with an investment banking background. Applicants with an MBA are preferred.