Facing a growing coalition of dissatisfied non-agency mortgage-backed security investors, Bank of America announced this week that it plans to settle a large portion of its non-agency MBS claims related to buybacks and servicing. The action sets a precedent for the sector, making settlements with other non-agency MBS issuers more likely. “Bank of America has charted...[Includes one graph]

Overseas investors were net sellers of U.S. agency notes and bonds – including agency MBS – during the first quarter of 2011, according to an analysis of market data by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Associations. Foreign investors bought some $5.46 billion of agency paper during the first quarter of this year, but that wasn’t...[Includes one data chart]

Tradeweb claims its Round Robin functionality has curbed trade failures in the to be announced mortgage market to the tune of $166 billion since it was introduced in November. First, the service has reduced the “round robin” risk; that is, the risk associated with a chain of matched fails that frequently becomes a closed loop. The new technology enables institutional clients to pair-off TBA mortgage pool transactions with dealers, which reduces...

Ginnie Mae has made some changes regarding the collection and reporting of data on the underlying collateral that backs outstanding Ginnie Mae MBS. The goal is to expand the type of data collected at pool issuance to provide greater transparency and more relevant information to investors. The technical changes were laid out this week for Ginnie Mae program participants during a webinar hosted by the agency. Some of the changes relate...

An official from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York defended the joint agency proposed rule on risk retention, claiming that it doesn’t do anything to block incentives to securitize. The proposed rule has been widely criticized by Wall Street and other financial institutions, which have urged the agencies to start over again with a new proposal. “I don’t understand how you would get...

Bank of America’s hefty $8.5 billion offer to settle representations and warranties claims on Countrywide non-agency MBS will help the bank move past a big chunk of its mortgage woes while giving investors in the worst-performing deals a positive jolt. BofA announced separate agreements with Bank of New York Mellon, the trustee for some 530 non-agency MBS issued...[Includes one data chart]

There have been only a few non-agency MBS securitizations in 2011, and the remainder of the year is not expected to be any more fruitful, according to panelists at the American Securitization Forum annual conference held last week in Washington, DC. Fitch Ratings has rated only one RMBS transaction, said Douglas Murray, group managing director at Fitch Ratings, but there have been...

Total capital in the FHA single-family program declined again in the first quarter of 2011, although agency officials say the program is on target to meet legal mandates as higher premiums and stronger loan quality gradually offset poorly performing older loans. In a quarterly report released this week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said total capital resources for the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund declined by $1.1 billion to $31.6 billion during the first three months of 2011. At the same time, the outstanding balance of single-family insurance at risk rose ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Ginnie Mae and the government-sponsored enterprises should add another potential alternative servicing fee structure in their deliberations to revamp the compensation structure for residential servicing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last week the MBA sent a letter to the FHFA, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pitch-ing the merits of a Reserve Account Proposal, requesting the proposal be included among the options expected to be released for public comment within the next month. “The Reverse Account Proposal would set up ...