Securitization

Freddie Mac issued $15.7 billion in mortgage-backed securities during December, a slight improvement over the previous two months but still one of its weakest issuance months of the year.

Fannie Mae, which has been operating under a government conservatorship since September, has laid off hundreds of workers over the past four weeks, according to sources both inside and outside the mortgage investing giant.

Urban Settlement Services of Pittsburgh (USS), a loan modification specialist, is talking to Bank of America and Fannie Mae about possible contracts, according to one executive close to the vendor.

Manager Activity: AutosFull Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is concerned it may have to take an impairment charge against $2 billion in private-label MBS and it has reduced the fourth quarter dividend to 1.1%.

Knight Capital Group promoted Senior Managing Directors Gary Katcher, head of global fixed income to executive vice president.

UBS has launched a new series of senior management job cuts within its securities unit as it gets out of real estate, securitization and “exotic” structured products.

Barclays Capital, Barclays PLC's investment banking division, has completed the integration of the North American businesses of Lehman Brothers acquired in September 2008.

Ginnie Mae announced that issuances for its MBS program reached $24 billion in December.

CIFG Holding, the holding company for CIFG’s financial guaranty subsidiaries, said that John Pizzarelli’s employment as chief executive officer is ending upon the successful completion of a settlement reached between CIFG and its derivatives counterparties and insured bondholders on the company’s troubled structured finance portfolio.

Freddie Mac reported a jump in fixed mortgage rates this week.

Credit Agricole launched the second Jumbo issue on the covered bond market this week. It marks the bank's debut in this arena.

The home building slump has resulted in a loss of more than three million jobs, according to an analysis by economists at the National Association of Home Builders.

CIFG Holding, the holding company for CIFG’s financial guaranty subsidiaries, said that it, along with its principal shareholders, Banque Populaire Group and Caisse d’Epargne Group, has reached a final settlement with credit default swap (CDS) counterparties and bondholders holding 98% of its gross par outstanding of ABS CDO exposures and certain specified CRE CDO exposures.

Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbinsannounced that a class action lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of investors of MBS and ABS certificatesof JPMorgan Acceptance Corp.

Amherst Securities Group hired Blake Myers as a salesperson. Myers, who is based in Amherst’s New York City office, was formerly at UBS, where he was one of the investment bank’s MBS salespeople.

Standard & Poor’s had launched indices designed to reflect the performance of the U.S. credit default swamp market. The three indices include one that measures the performance of high yield corporate credits.

Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Spain to 'AA+' from 'AAA' because the current economic and financial market conditions have highlighted structural weaknesses in the Spanish economy that are inconsistent with a 'AAA' rating.

Thornburg Mortgage, which averted bankruptcy nearly a year ago, is once again racing against the clock to raise financing.

Oak Hill Advisors hired Christine Daley as managing director in its investment team focusing on the stressed and distressed credit markets.