Securitization

Macy’s announced Wednesday night that it will be closing some of its stores while opening and replacing stores.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates eased back to 3.91% with an average 0.8 point in the week ending Jan. 5. This is from 3.95% and matches the record low set in the week ending Dec. 22.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is pressuring the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to take additional steps to make the newly implemented Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) 2.0 program more accessible for homeowners with GSE loans.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) announced today that John Walsh, acting comptroller of the currency, will give a keynote speech at ASF 2012.

Two more Standard & Poor's executives whose respective roles have included oversight of MBS ratings are leaving the company, possibly as part of an ongoing reorganization, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

CBL & Associates Properties closed four separate loans totaling $383 million last month.

The White House Wednesday morning signaled its intention to make former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)through a recess appointment.

European buyout firm CVC Capital Partners has agreed to buy Resource America’s CLO unit in a move to expand in the U.S., the two companies said in separate statements today.

Jerome Selitto has resigned as president and chief executive of PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., and has been replaced by the company's chief operating officer Glen Messina.

Knight Capital Group has appointed a director of institutional credit sales responsible for selling bank loans and high yield bonds to large European investors.

Starting in 1Q12, Fannie Mae will begin disclosing loan-level data for its single-family MBS. The GSE's first release will offer at issuance loan-level data for newly issued single-family collateral.

The Collingwood Group acquired GWN Consulting, which is a firm specializing in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Ginnie Mae risk management and quality control.

A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of MBIA, allowing the bond insurer to gain more footing in its suit against Bank of America's Countrywide.

As expected, the holidays intruded on mortgage application activity as 30-year fixed mortgage rates closed out the year at their lowest level for 2011.

CMBS data provider Trepp released its December 2011 U.S. CMBS Delinquency Report today.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has released the list of CMBS and RMBS bonds held by insurance companies as well as their price breakpoints. This move will help insurers determine the NAIC designations and risk-based capital requirements for their CMBS/RMBS positions for 2012.

Zipcar issued a $50 million series of variable funding notes under its existing ABS facility, increasing its total ABS funding line to $100 million.

Specialty finance firm Imperial Holdings has announced that wholly-owned unit Washington Square Financial (WSF) entered into a forward purchase and sale agreement to directly sell up to $40 million of life contingent structured settlement receivables to Compass Settlements.

Commercial mortgages had a mixed year in the securitized secondary markets during 2011. The outlook for 2012 is that the sector still faces some hurdles but may hold some opportunities.

Another big year for multifamily construction could push housing starts up 13% in 2012 after posting a 4% increase last year, according to a new forecast from Wells Fargo Securities.