Tag Archives: MBS

Fannie Mae completed about 13,000 loan modifications in October, bringing the year-to-date total to nearly 134,000. At the same time, the GSE's serious delinquency rate for conventional single-family mortgages declined seven basis points over the month, dropping to 2.48 percent. According to the company's latest monthly volume summary, Fannie Mae's total book of business is currently valued at about $3.17 trillion.

Speaking at an industry symposium recently, Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council for the White House, stressed the importance of securitization in the housing market, saying it makes mortgages cheaper and enables banks to free up limited capital to support additional home purchases and other forms of lending. However, he says the current securitization market is in need of major reforms.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced changes to their Servicing Guides Monday aimed at helping more borrowers avoid foreclosure through short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure (DILs). Some of the changes are to align with certain Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules and regulations that implement the mortgage servicing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, and some are simply to ease eligibility requirements for liquidation workout options.

Diane Nordin, a seasoned asset management executive, has joined Fannie Mae's board of directors, the company announced. Nordin most recently spent a year as a fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. Before that, she worked for 20 years at Wellington Management Company, a private asset management firm.

Analysts expect to see a new face at the helm of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) now that Senate Democrats have changed the rules so that a filibuster can't be used to block presidential appointments. Now only needing a simple majority for confirmation, Mel Watt's 56 votes in the Senate's first decision on his nomination mean he has enough support to become director of the FHFA--a change analysts say raises policy risk but also credit availability.

Secondary market professionals have a new way to connect with potential buyers and sellers: LendTrade, a recently launched community for trading professionals designed to cut out the middleman and save costs. Upon joining LendTrade, new members set up a profile and indicate the types of deals they're seeking, then they receive notifications when opportunities posted meet their criteria.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached a $4.5 billion agreement with 21 institutional investors to settle mortgage repurchase and servicing claims on 330 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued by J.P. Morgan, Bear Stearns, and Chase. The group of investors supports the arrangement, according to their legal representative, and has asked the trustees to accept JPMorgan's offer. The bank says it is appropriately reserved for this and any remaining RMBS litigation matters.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday charged RBS Securities Inc., the wholesale banking subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, with misleading investors in a 2007 subprime residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) offering. RBS agreed to settle the matter and pay more than $150 million, which the SEC will use to compensate investors for harm suffered as a result of the RBS deal.

Fannie Mae released its September book of business, revealing further declines as new acquisitions came to their lowest level in more than a year. The GSE's book of business totaled $3.163 trillion as of the end of September, shrinking at a compound annual rate of 1.3 percent. The company's single-family serious delinquency rate slipped to 2.55 percent.

Ally Financial is the fifth bank to reach a settlement with the federal government over soured mortgage bonds sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prior to the housing and foreclosure crisis. The bank announced Tuesday that it settled the 2011 lawsuit brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over toxic mortgages. Ally also reached a separate settlement with the FDIC to resolve pending litigation related to the company's legacy mortgage dealings.