Securitization

Robust attendance is expected at the American Securitization Forum's (ASF) ASF 2012 to be held in Las Vegas' ARIA hotel and convention center starting this Sunday, Jan 22. The conference will last until Wednesday, Jan 25.

Student loan giant Sallie Mae, which has had a difficult few years, reported lower delinquencies and charge-offs, and declining operating expenses, helped fuel a 14% rise in fourth quarter earnings, to $511 million.

The head of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is calling on his brethren at other trade groups to work together with MBA to forge coordinated policies to “reestablish a vibrant” housing finance system in the U.S.Speaking to financial services executives and lobbyists at the Exchequer Club on Wednesday, MBA president Dave Stevens said Congress and the Obama Administration continue to take a haphazard approach to reviving the housing market.

Ginnie Mae is in the process of hiring at least 40 new employees, which would increase the secondary market agency's staff by one-third.

Goldman Sachs has offered initial price guidance on certain slices of a $400 million CLO it is arranging for Ares Management, according to reports.

Moody's Investors Service has just released a Request for Comment (RFC) that describes its proposed approach to rating ABS backed by U.S. FFELP student loans.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has sold $7.014 billion worth of assets from its Maiden Lane II (ML II) portfolio via a competitive process to Credit Suisse.

The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, plans to shed roughly €2 billion ($2.6 billion) of distressed property loans tied to the Lehman Brothers' debacle, according to a Financial Times report today.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the ongoing settlement talks between the federal government, state attorneys general, and the nation's largest servicers have produced a "package of programs that we believe will be very positive" for the housing market.

Data provider Lender Processing Services (LPS) reported today December 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of close to 40 million mortgage loans.

Russian bank VTB 24 is looking to do a securitization of its car loan portfolio and might announce this transaction in 1Q12, according to Interfax Information Agency report.

Freddie Mac reported a new low of 3.88% on 30-year fixed mortgages for the week ending Jan. 19, down one basis point from last week.

Freddie Mac yesterday afternoon released the results of its 28th Annual Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Survey of prime loan offerings. The GSE conducted the survey from Jan. 3 to Jan. 5.

Carrington Holding Co. announced an agreement with certain investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management to fund the purchase of up to $450 million in distressed single family homes on a national basis.

The nation's attorneys general, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are “very close” to finalizing a legal settlement to settle 'robosigning' allegations levied against the nation's dozen or so top-ranked servicers, HUD secretary Shawn Donovan said Wednesday morning.

Greenberg Traurig hired Juan Manuel Gonzalez Bernal as a shareholder in its newly established office in Mexico City.

An 11th-hour settlement is expected to stave off potential class action status in a lawsuit that claims foreclosed borrowers were overcharged for attorneys’ fees that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) did not actually incur.

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. has expanded its U.S. equity research sector coverage by hiring a dedicated REITs research team.

Freddie Mac hopes to issue more Mortgage Linked Amortizing Notes similar to the one it priced late last week.

The Refinance Index surged 26.4% to 4500.6 in the week ending Jan. 13 and it is closing in on 2011's record high of 4866.7 set in mid-August. This was reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this morning.