RMBS

  • US broker bolsters sales and trading

    US broker-dealer Mizuho Securities has expanded its sales and trading department with a number of senior appointments across its fixed-income business, including high-yield, interest rate derivatives, mortgages and corporate credit.

    Among the recent hires are Roger Yao in RMBS trading, Franklin Amoo, strategic credit trading and Tyler Patla in agency MBS trading. Fixed-income sales have been bolstered with the appointments .......

    Job Swaps 5 August 2011

  • Warning over unintended risk retention consequences

    Evolving US risk retention regulations require careful navigation by securitisation market participants, according to Fitch. The rating agency has issued a new report in which it assesses the potential effect that pending risk retention rules could have on securitisation market dynamics and how US requirements compare to rules already implemented by European Union regulators.

    Fitch remains supportive of aligning issuer .......

    News Round-up 5 August 2011

  • Need for viable TBA market underlined

    Thomas Hamilton, md at Barclays Capital, testified yesterday (3 August) on behalf of SIFMA at a US Senate Committee hearing on the to-be-announced (TBA) market.

    Hamilton underlined how the liquidity and forward-trading nature of the TBA market provides key benefits to consumers, such as the broad availability of 30-year fixed rate mortgages that may be prepaid without penalty. He also .......

    News Round-up 4 August 2011

  • Further clarity expected for Dutch mortgages

    Fitch has published a special report on the expected impact of the updated code of conduct in the Dutch mortgage sector, noting that the update should bring more clarity to the market and with it an alignment and tightening of lending criteria among all residential mortgage lenders. The changes include the reduction in the maximum LTV to 104% plus transfer .......

    News Round-up 3 August 2011

  • RFC issued on RMBS methodology

    Kroll Bond Ratings Agency (KBRA) is seeking public comment on its RMBS rating methodology overview before 9 September. KBRA's rating of an RMBS transaction considers the strategy and operational strength of the originator and servicer, the quality and expected performance of the underlying collateral, and the security's credit enhancement and other terms.

    The document outlines KBRA's methodology for non-agency RMBS, .......

    News Round-up 2 August 2011

  • Bank RMBS litigation to remain elevated

    Losses related to private-label RMBS litigation and representation and warranty (R&W) claims are likely to increase or remain elevated at some of the largest banks, according to Fitch.

    The settlement announced by Bank of America Corporation (BAC) may serve as a potential framework at least for some issuers and investors in private-label securities (PLS), in Fitch's view. Using the economics .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2011

  • Subprime contagion effect analysed

    Kamakura Corporation has released a policy-oriented research paper that uses a microeconomic model of the prime and subprime markets to measure the macroeconomic impact of subprime mortgage defaults on home prices in general and prime mortgage defaults in particular. The report is authored by Kamakura md for research Robert Jarrow, as well as Marius Ascheberg (Goethe University), Holger Kraft (Goethe .......

    News Round-up 28 July 2011

  • UBS targeted in FHFA suit

    The Federal Housing Finance Agency has filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Southern District of New York against UBS Americas and related defendants alleging violations of federal securities laws in the sale of private-label RMBS to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The FHFA is seeking to recover losses and damages sustained by the GSEs as a .......

    Job Swaps 28 July 2011

  • MBS consultancy absorbed

    Berliner Consulting & Research has been absorbed into Manhattan Advisory Services, a subsidiary of Manhattan Capital Markets. The firm will continue to focus on the mortgage and MBS markets, including on originator hedging and support, security valuation and investment selection and management.

    It was formed in September 2008 by William Berliner, who previously ran Countrywide's trade strategies group. He began .......

    Job Swaps 27 July 2011

  • Freddie Mac vet turns advisor

    The Collingwood Group has retained Manoj Singh as a special advisor, to help its clients navigate the business opportunities that exist in Washington as a result of the housing crisis. Most recently, he was svp of pricing and securitisation (single family) and, before that, svp, head of market risk management for Freddie Mac. Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Singh held .......

    Job Swaps 27 July 2011

  • Colston RMBS restructured

    Bristol & West has restructured its £3bn Colston No. 1 RMBS. Under the restructuring, amendments have been made to the swap counterparty, the GIC provider and the transaction documentation (including the addition of a back-up servicer). Additionally, the liquidity reserve has been removed from the transaction.

    Credit enhancement for the class A notes now totals 14.55%, which is provided by .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2011

  • Need for QM safe harbour stressed

    The American Securitization Forum and SIFMA have filed comment letters with the Federal Reserve regarding the definition of a qualified mortgage found in Title XIV of the Dodd-Frank Act.

    Title XIV of Dodd-Frank prohibits creditors from making mortgage loans without regard to the consumer's repayment ability. Among the ways to comply with this provision is the origination of a 'qualified .......

    News Round-up 26 July 2011

  • TARP cio joins REIT

    David Miller has joined Pine River Capital Management as an md, responsible for business development and strategic initiatives for Two Harbors Investment Corp. Miller most recently served as cio for the Office of Financial Stability at the US Department of Treasury, where he was responsible for managing the investment portfolio for the US$700bn TARP.

    Prior to joining the US Department .......

    Job Swaps 22 July 2011

  • Irish RMBS rating ceiling lowered

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 30 tranches of 14 Irish RMBS transactions, affecting €27.7bn of securities. The rating action reflects the decline in the credit quality of the Irish government's sovereign debt (Moody's downgraded it to Ba1 from Baa3) and the failure by relevant counterparties to either comply with trigger breaches or implement in a timely fashion proposed structural .......

    News Round-up 22 July 2011

  • Asset manager adds in research

    Deer Park Road Corp has hired Hao Li as research analyst to strengthen its portfolio management team as the firm's assets continue to grow. Li will focus on risk management and analytics, supporting portfolio managers Michael Craig-Scheckman and Scott Burg.

    Prior to joining Deer Park, Li was at JPMorgan, where he worked on a US$1bn non-agency MBS portfolio and a .......

    Job Swaps 22 July 2011

  • Securitisation race heats up

    At the halfway point of 2011, with close to US$140bn of qualifying deals counted, the race is heating up for top place in the SCI US league tables for bank arrangers in the structured credit and ABS markets. Demonstrating how quickly the situation can change, May's sixth-placed firm has jumped to third this month. Europe, on the other hand, remains .......

    News Round-up 22 July 2011

  • WesCorp suit filed

    The NCUA has filed another suit in California against RBS Securities, alleging violations of federal and state securities laws and misrepresentations in the sale of securities to WesCorp. This law suit follows two similar legal proceedings filed in the Federal District Court of Kansas against JPMorgan Securities and RBS (SCI 21 June).

    As liquidating agent for WesCorp, NCUA has a .......

    Job Swaps 19 July 2011

  • Servicing advance recovery policies updated

    Ocwen Loan Servicing has updated its servicing advance recovery policies on future servicing acquisitions, including its impending acquisition of Litton Loan Servicing. The firm says that the policy adjustments are intended to minimise cash shortfalls on current investment grade rated non-agency RMBS bonds following a servicing acquisition or transfer.

    Ronald Faris, Ocwen president and ceo, comments: "Acquisition opportunities are increasing .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2011

  • Non-conforming RMBS review completed

    Moody's has completed a review of the UK non-conforming RMBS market, noting that performance trends are in line with current expected loss assumptions for the majority of transactions. Furthermore, its ratings are resilient to stressed future loss scenarios, the agency says.

    The conclusion is based on stress-testing 75 of the 84 outstanding UK non-conforming RMBS transactions. The review took into .......

    News Round-up 15 July 2011

  • Ex-Freddie Mac counsel recruited

    SNR Denton has appointed Robert Bostrom as partner and co-head of its global financial institutions and funds sector. He was previously evp, general counsel and corporate secretary of Freddie Mac, having directed its legal strategy through the financial crisis and recovery.

    Bostrom will share leadership of the global financial institutions and funds sector with partner Jana Cohen Barbe. He is .......

    Job Swaps 15 July 2011

  • Granite hit in counterparty criteria action

    S&P has lowered its credit ratings on 91 tranches from Northern Rock's Granite UK RMBS master trust. At the same time, the agency affirmed its ratings on 76 tranches and withdrew ratings on an additional six tranches. The downgrades reflect the application of S&P's 2010 counterparty criteria for structured finance transactions.

    The agency placed the senior classes of notes on .......

    News Round-up 14 July 2011
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