Securitization

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded several key U.S. banks late Thursday, impacting the ABCP operations of these banks.

Fitch Ratings thinks that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) plans to clarify the rules on putback requests might be positive for the U.S. housing market if it leads to lending beyond the “pristine” borrower profile.

Six out of 10 homeowners who received a loan modification stopped paying their mortgage again after 18 months, but there may be a modest silver lining buried in the high recidivism rates.

Full-service loan advisor DebtX has announced that it plans to sell more than $358 million of participations, loans, and leases from the Tennessee Commercial Bank receivership on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is coming under industry pressure to delay finalizing a merger of the RESPA/TILA mortgage disclosure forms until the qualified mortgage and qualified residential mortgage rules are finalized.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates set new historical lows for the week ending June 21 at 3.66% with an average 0.7-point.

The Federal Reserve’s announcement that it will be extending Operation Twist disappointed mortgage investors as the statement did not include any additional mortgage purchases, according to a JPMorgan Securities midday report released Wednesday.

The limits on a national bank or thrift's exposure to a single borrower will now also include counterparties in derivatives transactions, according to an interim final rule released Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee released a statement Wednesday confirming expectations that it would extend its “Operation Twist” program as well as continue reinvestment of principal payments in its agency MBS and debt holdings, prolonging downward pressure on long-term rates.

This week, the Mortgage Banker Association’s Government Refinance Index dramatically climbed to 8872 from 4010, which is a 120% week-over-week increase.

Freddie Mac has raised its estimate for 2012 originations to $1.45 trillion in its latest economic and housing market outlook, citing lower expected 30-year rates.

In Tuesday’s Mortgage Strategy Weekly, FTN Financial analysts said that the speed of liquidation and loss severities within the RMBS market have a strong correlation.

Mortgage application activity eased 0.8% in the week ending June 15 from the prior week due to a 9% drop in purchase activity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Tuesday promoted Steven Antonakes to head its bank supervision division and placed Paul Sanford in charge of large bank supervision.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fielded more than 19,000 consumer complaints about mortgage lenders and servicers with roughly 600 participants receiving some type of monetary relief.

This week’s Amherst Mortgage Insight argued that loan modifications are as important as bulk sales in solving the housing crisis.

An upcoming sukuk backed by properties in the Gulf region is the first RMBS from the region since 2007, according to a source close to the deal.

Credit card ABS issuer Discover Financial Services (DFS) is finally getting its feet wet in the mortgage origination business, but the lender isn't jumping into the deep end anytime soon.

A funny thing is happening to the market value of mortgage servicing rights: as this volatile asset class continues to wane in price, there’s now less of it out there in the world—a lot less compared to the peak of two years ago.

Redwood Trust is issuing another RMBS called Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2012-3 (SEMT 2012-3). Moody's Investors Service, Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency are rating the deal.