RMBS

  • MBIA policyholder group files appeal

    The MBIA policyholder group yesterday filed their opening brief with the New York Court of Appeals in Albany, asking the court to allow their fraudulent conveyance action against MBIA to proceed. The group is seeking to reverse the monoline's US$5bn restructuring in February 2009 (SCI passim).

    The plaintiffs have an automatic right of appeal, following a split 3-2 decision on 11 .......

    Job Swaps 17 March 2011

  • Second Colonial Bank official charged

    The US SEC has charged the former operations supervisor of Colonial Bank's mortgage warehouse lending division (MWLD) with participating in a US$1.5bn securities fraud scheme. The SEC alleges that Teresa Kelly enabled the sale of fictitious and impaired mortgage loans and securities from the MWLD's largest customer - Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage (TBW) - to Colonial Bank. She caused .......

    Job Swaps 17 March 2011

  • Servicing settlement critiqued

    SIFMA's evp of business policies and practices, Randy Snook, has released a statement in response to the State Attorneys General term sheet for mortgage servicing standards (see also 'Pardoning problems', SCI 10 March). The association says it supports sensible reforms to mortgage servicing that address the needs of borrowers and MBS investors.

    "Any reform of mortgage servicing standards must be .......

    News Round-up 17 March 2011

  • New cio recruited

    Paul Isherwood has joined The Chotin Group as cio. He is responsible for overseeing the analysis, trading and management of the firm's investment portfolios.

    Isherwood has more than 15 years of experience creating, managing and investing in structured finance products, primarily backed by residential mortgage assets. Prior to joining Chotin, he was ceo and fund manager of Winston Capital, a .......

    Job Swaps 14 March 2011

  • RMBS repurchase offer made

    The US Federal Reserve has received a formal offer from AIG to purchase the assets in Maiden Lane II, which mainly comprise RMBS. The Fed says it has been aware of AIG's interest in these assets for some time. Any decision on a possible disposition of the assets will be made in a way that maximises the proceeds to the .......

    News Round-up 14 March 2011

  • Irish RMBS ratings cap enforced

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 50 tranches in 17 prime Irish RMBS transactions, while maintaining the ratings on 16 tranches on review for possible downgrade. These actions are due to the weak and rapidly deteriorating performance of the collateral, the weakened macro-economic environment and the increased operational risks linked to the weaker credit quality of Irish banks acting as .......

    News Round-up 11 March 2011

  • Mortgage portfolio analytics offered

    Moody's Analytics has released its Mortgage Portfolio Analyser (MPA) service, a risk management and capital allocation tool to help retail portfolio managers analyse and manage the credit risk of their mortgage portfolios. Featuring a range of customisable models and forecasting tools, the service also gives retail credit and fixed income portfolio managers the information they need to hedge or rebalance .......

    News Round-up 9 March 2011

  • Dutch RMBS criteria updated

    Fitch has updated its rating methodology for new and existing Dutch-backed RMBS. Following the update, the agency has reviewed the outstanding ratings of existing Fitch-rated Dutch prime (non-NHG) RMBS transactions and subsequently affirmed 281 tranches, upgraded one tranche and revised eight outlooks to negative.

    The main changes to the criteria include a modest decrease in the triple-A base foreclosure frequencies, .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2011

  • 'Harsher' QRM definition expected

    US federal agencies are preparing new risk retention requirements and a potential definition for qualified residential mortgages (QRMs). The proposal is believed to include loans with 20% or more down payments, which ABS analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe falls on the harsher side relative to a 10%-20% figure mooted anecdotally.

    "We believe that more stringent definitions for .......

    News Round-up 8 March 2011

  • Foreclosure timelines examined

    Many market participants are fine-tuning their focus on the differences in foreclosure proceedings by US state (see SCI 2 March). S&P reports that although each state has its own laws for the foreclosure process, states overall can be generally categorised as being either judicial or non-judicial.

    "In theory, the judicial foreclosure process is intended to protect a borrower against unlawful .......

    News Round-up 7 March 2011

  • Consecutive slow-down for pending home sales

    US pending home sales have slowed for the second straight month, according to S&P. The National Association of Realtors reports a drop in pending sales by 2.8% in January, following a 3.2% decline in downwardly revised December and a 10.5% increase in November. The index is 1.5% below its level a year ago and 30% below the early-2005 peak.

    "This .......

    News Round-up 4 March 2011

  • Bank adds mortgage director

    Deutsche Bank is understood to have hired Sean Dawson as a director within its mortgage principal investment unit. He was previously svp of securitised products at Citadel and prior to this was svp at Lehman Brothers.

    .......

    Job Swaps 3 March 2011

  • Third charge brought over TBW fraud

    The US SEC has charged former vp and head of mortgage warehouse lending at Colonial Bank, Catherine Kissick, with conducting a US$1.5bn securities fraud scheme.

    The SEC alleges that Kissick enabled the sale of fictitious and impaired mortgage loans and securities from the mortgage warehouse lending division's largest customer - Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage (TBW) - to Colonial Bank. .......

    Job Swaps 3 March 2011

  • Foreclosure complexity highlighted

    A bill passed last week in the Arizona Senate that voids foreclosures without full title history has re-emphasised the complexity of foreclosure requirements. If the bill passes in the House, many borrowers could begin challenging foreclosures in this non-judicial state - thereby pushing foreclosure timelines even further out.

    Chain of title remains an important issue, according to NewOak ceo Ron .......

    News 2 March 2011

  • Irish RMBS restructured

    Irish Life & Permanent has restructured Fastnet Securities 3, an Irish RMBS. Under the restructuring, the principal amount outstanding on the class A1 notes was increased to €2.3bn from €649m and reduced on the class A2s to €2.3bn from €5bn. Both classes of notes now pay a fixed rate of interest of 1.5% per year, while the reserve fund required .......

    News Round-up 1 March 2011

  • Mortgage servicing subsidiary planned

    Ocwen is forming a new subsidiary, Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS), to be headed by Ocwen founder and chairman William Erbey. HLSS is seeking to raise US$316m via an IPO, using the proceeds to acquire mortgage servicing rights.

    Initially, the company intends to purchase the HomEq mortgage servicing rights and the associated servicing advances from Ocwen. HLSS would then enter .......

    Job Swaps 28 February 2011

  • Class action filed against BofA

    Murray, Frank & Sailer has filed a class action complaint on behalf of individuals and institutions who purchased Bank of America Corporation publicly traded common stock and options between 9 May 2007 and 19 October 2010. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that throughout the class period BofA engaged in .......

    Job Swaps 25 February 2011

  • TBW treasurer charged with fraud

    The US SEC has charged former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) Mortgage treasurer Desiree Brown with aiding and abetting a US$1.5bn securities fraud scheme and an attempt to scam the US Treasury's TARP programme.

    The SEC alleges that Brown helped enable the sale of more than US$1.5bn in fictitious and impaired mortgage loans and securities from TBW to Colonial Bank, .......

    Job Swaps 25 February 2011

  • Doubts raised on mortgage financing capacity

    Fitch suggests in a new report that US banks may struggle to provide significant financing capacity in light of the recent housing reform proposals (see SCI 11 February). This is due to the likely persistence of 30-year fixed rate mortgages, which pose interest rate risk management challenges, and the leverage ratio - which limits balance sheet growth. Additionally, during times .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2011

  • Servicer enforcement actions due

    S&P has stated that its residential servicer rankings on GMAC Mortgage, ChaseHome Finance, BAC Home Loans Servicing, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, CitiMortgage and PNC Bank remain on credit watch negative in light of the ongoing review of US servicing practices by regulators. The servicing practices of 14 companies have been under review by US regulators since the middle of last .......

    News Round-up 24 February 2011

  • Sequoia prices with stronger structure

    Redwood Trust has priced Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2011-1 - the first US non-agency RMBS of the year - via Credit Suisse, Jefferies and JPMorgan. The US$270m triple-A rated (by Fitch) class A-1 notes priced at 4.125%. The offering is expected to close on 1 March.

    The deal is backed by a US$296m pool of 303 prime mortgages consisting of 43% .......

    News Round-up 18 February 2011
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