RMBS

  • RMBS trading probes settled

    Jefferies Group has agreed to pay US$25m to settle US criminal and civil probes into RMBS trading abuses. The firm was investigated after former trader Jesse Litvak was charged with RMBS fraud a year ago (SCI 29 January 2013).

    Jefferies will pay US$11m to counterparties harmed in certain trades, US$10m to the US Attorney's Office and US$4m to resolve an .......

    Job Swaps 29 January 2014

  • RMBS cross trade charges settled

    A California-based investment adviser has been sanctioned for engaging in cross trading of RMBS which favoured certain clients over others and for concealing investor losses which resulted from a coding error. Western Asset Management Company has agreed to pay more than US$21m to settle with the US SEC and with the US Department of Labor.

    Western Asset engaged in illegal .......

    Job Swaps 28 January 2014

  • Asian ratings poised for positive performance

    S&P expects collateral performance and structural enhancement to underpin stable to marginally positive ratings performance for Asia-Pacific structured finance securities. However, tranches that have key rating dependencies on transaction counterparties could continue to be affected by the credit conditions that would impact the credit profiles of the counterparties, the agency says.

    The economic outlook is mixed across countries where outstanding .......

    News Round-up 28 January 2014

  • RMBS vet joins advisory

    Tanya Rajput has joined Opus Capital's client services group as a director. She was previously at Redwood Trust and before that worked at Arch Bay Capital, Washington Mutual and Countrywide.

    .......

    Job Swaps 28 January 2014

  • Current loan sales slammed

    SN Servicing Corporation's recent sale of both current and delinquent mortgage loans from scratch and dent RMBS trusts exposes the transactions to market value risk and raises concerns about potentially high losses in the deals, Moody's notes in its latest ResiLandscape publication. In one of the trusts - Security National Mortgage Loan Trust 2002-2 - investors lost US$8.1m as a .......

    News Round-up 27 January 2014

  • RMBS loss severities up

    US RMBS loss severities rose last quarter, following six straight quarters of declines, according to Fitch's latest quarterly index for the sector. Home price growth began to slow in 4Q13, while timelines continued to lengthen.

    "Judicial foreclosure states were a particular problem spot with respect to longer timelines last quarter, even as timelines in non-judicial states start to level off. .......

    News Round-up 24 January 2014

  • Fir Tree launches tender

    Fir Tree Partners has commenced a cash tender offer through its affiliate FT RMBS in connection with six RMBS that are subject to the proposed US$4.5bn JPMorgan settlement. The transactions involved are SACO 2006-3, 2006-5, 2006-6 and 2007-2, as well as BSMF 2006-SL1 and JPMAC 2006-WMC4.

    "We believe Fir Tree is offering a better recovery with a more certain payment .......

    News Round-up 23 January 2014

  • GNMA prepayments examined

    Ginnie Mae loan-level disclosures indicate that FHA-to-conventional refinances are a meaningful contributor to GNMA prepayments, Barclays Capital RMBS analysts note. They suggest that long-term GNMA new production discount speeds could be 3-4 CPR faster than their conventional counterparts.

    The loan-level data allows voluntary and involuntary prepayments to be attributed precisely to specific loan types. A Barcap analysis of the data .......

    News 23 January 2014

  • Jumbo CPR assumptions 'aggressive'

    The 15% CPR pricing speed assumption used for most US RMBS prime jumbo deals issued in 2012 and 2013 is aggressive and may underestimate extension risk in new issue prime jumbo securitisations, say Wells Fargo analysts. They suggest that a pricing speed range of 5%-10% CPR would be a better approximation.

    A bear steepening of the yield curve is expected. .......

    News Round-up 22 January 2014

  • Affordability surveyed

    Fitch expects house prices to increase modestly in the US and remain broadly flat in Canada in 2014. Meanwhile, Australian housing remains expensive by many global measures and slight nominal price increases are possible in Japan and South Korea.

    Fitch believes that most of the US will see continued home price growth, reflecting market momentum, the effects of inflation, the .......

    News Round-up 22 January 2014

  • Euro residential performance diverging

    The outlook for all major European residential mortgage markets has improved or stayed the same compared with a year ago, but performance among countries is diverging, Fitch notes. The agency expects house price affordability in some cities to be stretched further over 2014, given near-term expected house price increases.

    The divergence in European markets reflects country-specific property cycles and factors .......

    News Round-up 21 January 2014

  • QM rules to limit credit expansion

    The continued normalisation taking place in the US housing market provides scope for mortgage credit to expand from its current tight levels. However, Dodd-Frank ATR/QM requirements pose challenges for credit to expand to pre-crisis levels.

    Barclays Capital RMBS analysts believe that the majority of credit expansion is likely to come from QM loans, where some flexibility remains regarding FICOs and .......

    News 21 January 2014

  • Servicer stability examined

    Three US mortgage servicers - Ocwen, Nationstar and Walter Investment Management - have significantly grown their servicing portfolios over the past two years. Moody's focuses on the servicing stability of these three entities in its latest Servicer Dashboard publication.

    The agency notes that the three servicers have undergone rapid transformations, which continue to pose significant operational risks that constrain their .......

    News Round-up 21 January 2014

  • CFPB rules take centre stage

    From a US residential mortgage servicing perspective, last year will be remembered as a year of regulation and consolidation. However, going into 2014 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will take centre stage as the ability-to-repay (ATR), qualified mortgage (QM) and servicing rules go into effect, according to DBRS.

    The agency believes that the issuance of the ATR and QM .......

    News Round-up 20 January 2014

  • Solid execution seen for IABF sale

    The Dutch State Treasury Agency completed its second IABF sale yesterday (16 January). The auction comprised 360 individual securities totalling approximately US$4.27bn current face (SCI 13 January), which will leave the portfolio with just US$2.2bn remaining exposure.

    BWIC execution appeared solid and approximately 29 of the bonds out for the bid had observable re-offer levels in the immediate wake of .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2014

  • SFR structuring innovation unveiled

    FeatherStone Investment Group says it has designed a new class of security that will allow qualified institutional buyers to participate in the equity-like returns of single-family rental securitisations without a long-term capital commitment to the sector. Dubbed a residual tracking tranche (RTT), it is anticipated to have a three- to five-year maturity based on the longest issued debt tranche within .......

    News Round-up 16 January 2014

  • Ocwen settlement to hurt investors

    S&P suggests that the potential impact of the Ocwen servicing settlement (SCI 23 December 2013) on US RMBS transactions is similar to that of JPMorgan's settlement with the Department of Justice (SCI 17 December 2013). As such, investors are expected to bear the losses that result from modifications executed under the agreement.

    Ocwen last month entered into an agreement with .......

    News Round-up 15 January 2014

  • Statute of limitations in focus

    S&P says that investor recourse may be limited with or without sunset representation and warranty provisions, following the ACE Appellate ruling (SCI 7 January). As such, to mitigate the potential impact of limited post-default remedies, the agency expects prudent investors and market participants to consider any applicable statute of limitations (SOLs) and continue to focus on upfront due diligence.

    The .......

    News Round-up 15 January 2014

  • REIT vet joins CRE advisory

    Situs has grown its West Coast team with the appointment of Eric Smith as business development leader. He will be based in San Francisco and report to Kenneth Segal and Eric Lindner.

    Smith also currently serves as an independent director at KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT. He has 25 years of experience in the industry, having previously worked at Loan Value .......

    Job Swaps 15 January 2014

  • Law firm promotes real estate pair

    Danielle Schechner has been elected to partner in the real estate group of Pryor Cashman, while Benjamin Teig has been named as of counsel. Both are based in New York.

    Schechner has been at the firm since 2006. She has also worked at Millennium Inorganic Chemicals and Fried Frank.

    Teig focuses on commercial real estate and was previously a real .......

    Job Swaps 15 January 2014

  • Bright spots

    Mixed fortunes in structured finance recruitment

    Certain areas of the structured finance recruitment sector are growing, but large parts remain muted. European activity is all but moribund, while the picture in the US is mixed.

    The US securitised markets show several areas of growth, not least in CLOs. While the CMBS and RMBS sectors are mixed, the ABS market is anticipated to become even quieter going .......

    News Analysis 15 January 2014
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