RMBS

  • Ambac rehab plan faces attack

    The RMBS Policyholders Group has commented on the Plan of Rehabilitation for the Segregated Account of Ambac Assurance Corporation, which recently filed by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) (SCI passim).

    The plan continues a disturbing pattern, the group says, of OCI favouring Ambac and its shareholder to the detriment of policyholders. The plan requires policyholders to .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • Distressed credit vet launches own firm

    Former Siguler Guff portfolio manager Maria Boyazny has launched MB Global Partners, partnering with G2 Investment Group. The collaboration aims to capitalise on the credit dislocations and distressed opportunities created by the global financial crisis.

    Boyazny previously managed US$4.5bn across Siguler Guff's distressed opportunities funds. "This is a decade of credit, as financial institutions and governments around the world are .......

    Job Swaps 26 October 2010

  • Assured loses triple-A rating

    S&P has lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Assured Guaranty Corp (AGC) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp (AGM) to double-A plus from triple-A, outlook stable. At the same time, the agency affirmed its single-A plus counterparty credit rating on Assured Guaranty Ltd, with the outlook also remaining stable.

    "The downgrades reflect our view that the current state .......

    News Round-up 26 October 2010

  • Expanding FI operation adds MBS heads

    Braver Stern Securities has appointed John Keller and David Cuttino to lead its two new fixed income institutional sales offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia.

    Keller will head Braver Stern's Boston fixed income institutional sales operation. Prior to joining the firm, he was a portfolio manager of funds investing in ABS, MBS, CMBS and real estate for Cambridge Place .......

    Job Swaps 25 October 2010

  • GSE performance projections released

    The FHFA has released projections of the financial performance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including potential draws under the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) with the US Treasury. To date, the GSEs have drawn US$148bn from the Treasury under the terms of the PSPAs. Under the three scenarios used in the projections, cumulative draws range from US$221bn to US$363bn .......

    News Round-up 22 October 2010

  • Real estate vet recruited

    RoundPoint Financial Group has named Steve Bashmakov as its new chief financial officer. Bashmakov will report directly to RoundPoint ceo Kevin Brungardt.

    "RoundPoint Financial Group is a forward-looking company furnished with a dynamic team," comments Bashmakov. "Kevin's vision for growing a truly integrated mortgage banking and investment company in this real estate market is compelling."

    Bashmakov brings to RoundPoint significant .......

    Job Swaps 22 October 2010

  • Housing finance symposium planned

    The FDIC and the Federal Reserve System are to host a symposium on 25-26 October on mortgages and the future of housing finance. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver opening remarks, while FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair will be the keynote luncheon speaker.

    Bair comments: "The housing sector, one of the main engines of our economy, has seen positive signs, .......

    News Round-up 21 October 2010

  • Spanish foreclosures hit new record

    Moody's reports that the rapid deterioration in Spain's economy and its illiquid housing market conditions have forced banks to initiate record numbers of foreclosures on Spanish mortgages since 2007. This, the agency says, will raise the severity of losses, squeezing liquidity and increasing cash commingling risk for RMBS transactions.

    The volume of Spanish foreclosed mortgages that were taken to court .......

    News Round-up 20 October 2010

  • Signs of stability for subprime RMBS

    The latest results from Fitch's US subprime RMBS indices suggest that although prices remain at a crossroads overall, two of the sector's more maligned vintages are showing signs of stabilising. The total index stands at 9.85 through to the end of last month, which is similar to August, the firm reports.

    While the index price has remained virtually flat over .......

    News Round-up 19 October 2010

  • Countrywide RMBS investigation continues

    The Countrywide investigation regarding ineligible mortgages continues (see SCI issue 198). The holders of over 25% of the voting rights in more than US$47bn of Countrywide-issued RMBS have sent a notice of non-performance to Countrywide Home Loan Servicing, as master servicer on the transactions, and to Bank of New York as trustee.

    The notice, which is the first step in .......

    Job Swaps 19 October 2010

  • Rating review hits 13 Spanish RMBS

    Fitch has placed 45 tranches of 13 Spanish RMBS transactions on rating watch negative (RWN), due to the performance of their underlying assets. The agency says it is particularly concerned with the reserve fund depletions in combination with elevated arrears of high LTV loans.

    Of the 13 transactions, seven have depleted their reserve funds and have seen a build-up of .......

    News Round-up 19 October 2010

  • Countrywide executive pays record penalty

    Former Countrywide Financial ceo Angelo Mozilo will pay a record US$22.5m penalty to settle SEC charges that he and two other former Countrywide executives misled investors as the subprime mortgage crisis emerged (see SCI issue 140). The settlement also permanently bars Mozilo from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.

    Mozilo's financial penalty is the largest .......

    Job Swaps 18 October 2010

  • Claims of invalid loan transfers dismissed

    Seven law firms have come out strongly against misinformation circulating within the financial markets that transfers of residential mortgage loans to securitisation trusts were not valid. Each of the firms reiterated their belief that the conventional process for loan transfers embodied in standard legal documentation for mortgage securitisations is adequate and appropriate to transfer ownership of mortgage loans to the .......

    News Round-up 18 October 2010

  • GSE foreclosure policy framework set

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are implementing a four-point policy framework to address foreclosure process deficiencies, including guidance for consistent remediation of any identified deficiencies. The framework envisions an orderly and expeditious resolution of foreclosure process issues that will provide greater certainty to homeowners, lenders, investors and communities alike, according to the FHFA.

    FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco comments: "The .......

    News Round-up 15 October 2010

  • Debut NCUA resecuritisation marketing

    Barclays Capital is understood to be leading the first of the US National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)'s resecuritisations under its plan to address impaired assets in the corporate credit union system (see SCI issue 202). The government-guaranteed transaction is expected to price within the next week, sized at US$3.85bn and backed by non-agency RMBS.

    The NCUA's new programme, dubbed NCUA .......

    News Round-up 14 October 2010

  • Lender acquired in mortgage banking move

    Gleacher & Company intends to launch a residential mortgage banking initiative through its newly-formed subsidiary Descap Mortgage Funding, having acquired all of the shares of common stock of ClearPoint Funding from its founder and ceo Greg O'Connor in the process. ClearPoint is a residential, non-depository mortgage lender based in Marlborough, Massachusetts currently employing approximately 100 employees.

    Head of the mortgage .......

    Job Swaps 14 October 2010

  • Rehab plan filed for Ambac segregated account

    The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has filed its plan of rehabilitation for the Segregated Account of Ambac Assurance Corporation in Dane County Circuit Court in Wisconsin. The segregated account (SCI passim) was established on 24 March, at the direction of the OCI, to segregate certain liabilities - primarily policies related to credit derivatives, RMBS and other .......

    Job Swaps 13 October 2010

  • GMAC sued over 'fraudulent' affidavits

    In a lawsuit filed against GMAC Mortgage and its parent Ally Financial, Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray accuses the loan servicer and its agents of filing fraudulent affidavits to mislead courts in hundreds of Ohio foreclosures.

    "We know that as Ohioans were fighting to save their homes, this loan servicer benefited financially from the dire circumstances," says Cordray. "Instead of .......

    Job Swaps 13 October 2010

  • RMBS director added

    The Paragon Group has appointed Peter Shorthouse as director of treasury and structured finance. Reporting to the firm's director Nick Keen, Shorthouse will spearhead Paragon's RMBS strategy.

    With over 20 years of experience in the securitisation market, Shorthouse joins the firm from UBS, where he was head of European securitisation.

    .......

    Job Swaps 13 October 2010

  • FNMA prepays 'close to peaking'

    Fannie Mae 30-year prepayment speeds picked up by 6% month-over-month to 24.9 CPR, according to MBS analysts at Barclays Capital. Speeds came in at the lower end of the analysts' estimates, with the 2009 FNCL 4.5s and 5s printing 22 and 28.5 CPR respectively.

    The month before, prepayments had jumped by around 27% (see SCI issue 199). The BarCap analysts .......

    News Round-up 13 October 2010

  • Partnership brings enhanced valuation platform

    MDA DataQuick and MBSData have partnered to launch an enhanced RMBS valuation product. The product manages portfolio default risk by identifying and measuring previously unknown underlying loan performance risks, the firms say.

    This offering utilises a combination of non-agency loan level information, current collateral and property values, as well as updated and combined loan-to-value and tax delinquency status. Additional liens, .......

    Job Swaps 6 October 2010
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