RMBS

  • Motion to dismiss denied

    A California Superior Court judge has denied S&P's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Kamala Harris against the rating agency in February (SCI 6 February). The California case is notable for its asserted violations of unfair competition laws and the California False Claims Act, which allows the state to seek triple damages but has not previously .......

    Job Swaps 22 August 2013

  • QRM revision anticipated

    The federal agencies responsible for jointly promulgating the risk retention rule under the Dodd-Frank Act are expected to propose a revised rule on 28 August. In particular, the requirements for qualified residential mortgage (QRM) status are likely to be loosened, to mirror the CFPB's definition of qualified mortgage (QM) under its ability-to-repay rule (SCI 11 January).

    Meanwhile, the SFIG has .......

    News Round-up 22 August 2013

  • RFC cashflow errors corrected

    Moody's has confirmed the ratings of 13 tranches and upgraded the ratings of five tranches across seven RMBS from Residential Funding Corporation's RAMP and RASC shelves. The rating actions reflect the recent performance of the underlying pools, as well as Moody's updated expected losses on the pools. They also reflect corrected errors in the Structured Finance Workstation (SFW) cashflow models .......

    News Round-up 21 August 2013

  • FHFA settlement costs increasing?

    UBS last month agreed to settle FHFA claims relating to misrepresented US RMBS sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for US$885m (SCI 23 July). The settlement amount appears to be relatively high, however, which could result in other banks currently in the FHFA's sights making additional litigation provisions.

    The FHFA filed lawsuits two years ago against 18 banks, alleging .......

    News 21 August 2013

  • Mexican loan modifications due

    Mexican servicers Patrimonio and Tertius are set to apply a number of loan modification proposals (LMP) to certain securitised mortgages. The LMP comprise Apoyo con Quita, Programa Finiquito/Venta de Derechos Litigiosos, Reduccion Permanente de Mensualidad con Quita and Dacion en Pago con Incentivo Economico.

    The servicers' collection policies already include these loan modification products. They are to be applied under .......

    News Round-up 21 August 2013

  • Forbearance-related downgrades hit

    S&P has lowered its ratings on 31 classes from 19 US RMBS and removed 26 of them from credit watch with negative implications. At the same time, the agency affirmed the ratings on 319 classes from 66 transactions and removed 99 of them from credit watch negative.

    The rating actions follow the announcement by Ocwen Loan Servicing that US$1.4bn of .......

    News Round-up 21 August 2013

  • RMBS ratings reviewed

    S&P has completed a review of over 60,000 ratings across more than 5,500 US RMBS. The transactions are backed by pre-2009 collateral and primarily reflect criteria changes that occurred in August 2012 and March 2013.

    Between August 2012 and July 2013, S&P downgraded 15,100, upgraded 1,532 and affirmed 43,611 tranches. The agency focused on first-lien, re-REMIC and second-lien transactions to .......

    News Round-up 21 August 2013

  • Ambac supplemental payments discussed

    The segregated account of Ambac Assurance is this month expected to begin making cash payments on certain policies in excess of 25% of permitted policy claims, following an order granted by the Circuit Court for Dane County, Wisconsin. The move is likely to reduce the amount of credit support within the affected RMBS transactions and result in higher write-downs for .......

    News 20 August 2013

  • FGIC emerges from rehabilitation

    The Superintendent of Financial Services of the State of New York, in his capacity as the court-appointed rehabilitator of FGIC, has determined that the conditions to the monoline's plan of rehabilitation have been satisfied (SCI 2 October 2012). Accordingly, the plan has become effective and the rehabilitation proceeding is terminated.

    Part of FGIC's rehabilitation plan is a novation agreement whereby .......

    Job Swaps 20 August 2013

  • Mortgage insurance recommendations released

    The Joint Forum has released its final report on 'Mortgage insurance: market structure, underwriting cycle and policy implications'. The report examines the interaction of mortgage insurers with mortgage originators and underwriters.

    The report includes a set of recommendations directed at policymakers and supervisors that aim to reduce the likelihood of mortgage insurance stress and failure in tail events. One of .......

    News Round-up 20 August 2013

  • Non-agency leans on legacy list

    US non-agency RMBS secondary supply shot up yesterday to around US$1.25bn on the back of a US$1.1bn legacy bid-list. SCI's PriceABS data shows tranches from as far back as 1996 out for the bid, with a couple of post-crisis bonds also circulating.

    Several BWICs of a similar size have recently been attributed to the GSEs (SCI passim). As .......

    Market Reports 20 August 2013

  • Objection filed against FGIC settlement

    A number of investors - collectively holding over US$714m of wrapped Residential Capital securities - have filed an objection against how certain policyholders will be treated after FGIC's settlement with ResCap debtors. They claim that 47 RMBS trusts that issued securities with a current face amount of US$4.9bn and hold over US$1n in FGIC policy claims will receive a one-time .......

    Job Swaps 19 August 2013

  • Structured finance partner named

    Squire Sanders has recruited Mark Thomas as partner in its financial services practice group in London. He was previously head of structured finance at Addleshaw Goddard. His practice focuses on advising on developing structured loan products, loan portfolio sales and acquisitions, restructuring - particularly relating to ABS and real estate finance transactions - and the provision of finance to banks .......

    Job Swaps 19 August 2013

  • Further IndyMac appeal filed

    IndyMac Bancorp's former chief executive Michael Perry has made another filing in ongoing litigation in the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal is from a District Court Decision in a case pitting the FDIC, IndyMac's Chapter 7 trustee, Perry and other former IndyMac executives against a group of insurers that includes XL Specialty Insurance Company, Arch Insurance Company, .......

    Job Swaps 19 August 2013

  • FHFA's ResCap claims to proceed

    The US District Court for the Southern District of New York last week ruled that the FHFA may proceed with its claims against affiliates of Residential Capital, despite Residential Capital's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The FHFA sued Residential Capital and numerous other defendants in 17 lawsuits filed two years ago, alleging generally that defendants misrepresented the quality of loans backing RMBS .......

    Job Swaps 19 August 2013

  • Eminent domain impact examined

    Fitch says that the potential use of eminent domain by communities in California would negatively affect private label US RMBS and future lending in those regions (SCI 8 August). If those communities are successful, similar plans might be replicated in other communities, thereby broadening the impact of the scheme. The agency also believes that these programmes could further weigh on .......

    News Round-up 19 August 2013

  • Multifamily in focus during summer slow-down

    August is traditionally a quiet month for the secondary markets, but activity has been picking up in certain sectors. In particular, German multifamily CMBS and Spanish RMBS has piqued the interest of investors.

    "Activity in European CMBS has picked up over the last week or so. Markets are always quieter during the summer holidays, but we have seen increased buying .......

    Market Reports 16 August 2013

  • MSR challenges ahead

    Movement of non-agency RMBS away from banks and into the hands of non-bank servicers continued apace in the second quarter. Additional large mortgage servicing right (MSR) transfers are scheduled to be completed in the last half of 2013, as banks offload defaulted/high-risk loans, Fitch reports.

    For example, in addition to its acquisition of the Homeward Residential and GMAC Mortgage portfolios, .......

    News Round-up 16 August 2013

  • Serviceability test utility underscored

    Meaningful serviceability tests are becoming an even more important way for Australian mortgage originators to maintain the high quality of their portfolios as interest rates reach historic lows, Fitch reports. The agency says that current low interest rates, coupled with high house prices and household leverage could expose borrowers to future payment shocks when interest rates rise.

    "It is therefore .......

    News Round-up 16 August 2013

  • Agency prepays to decline sharply

    US agency RMBS prepayment speeds are projected to decline sharply over the next two months as rising mortgage rates continue to dampen refinancing activities. At the same time, housing turnover - due mostly to existing home sales - is becoming a critical component of agency prepays for the first time in many years.

    Historically, housing turnover has been negatively correlated .......

    News 15 August 2013

  • Ginnie prepays spike on buy-outs

    Prepayment speeds on 2009 and newer Ginnie Mae pools accelerated unexpectedly last month after Bank of America bought out delinquent loans. Unlike other large servicers that buy out loans consistently every month, Bank of America buy-outs occur more haphazardly and in bigger blocks, Deutsche Bank securitisation analysts explain.

    Last month's buy-outs pushed 90-day delinquency rates in Ginnie Mae I 30-year .......

    News Round-up 15 August 2013
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