Mary Jo White, the nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, said this week that enforcement actions against Wall Street firms and implementation of rules relating to credit ratings will be two of her many priorities if she is confirmed as head of the SEC. Industry analysts suggest that the Senate will easily confirm her nomination. “At the SEC, there’s no institution too big to charge,” White said at a hearing this week by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The comment was...

Most mortgage banking firms – both bank and nonbanks alike – have been posting record profits over the past year, creating the pleasant problem of what to do with all that cash. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past few weeks, certain nonbank owners have been taking cash out of their companies, using the money to pay hefty tax bills. Others have been leaving money in the company and searching for ways to shelter income. One way to do that, according to some tax experts, is to retain originated servicing rights. This is...

Proposed legislation would ban the use of guaranty-fees to pay for non-housing federal expenditures.

Freddie Mac is still owed $1.2 billion from Lehman Brothers, which went bust five years ago. Also, Wells Fargo sells NPLs to Citigroup.

Not only was the jumbo market on a roll last year but the GSEs were major players, according to new figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Will the White House soon unveil its FHFA director candidate?

Activity in the jumbo MBS market is hopping.Shellpoint Partners is targeting mid-year for its first deal.

Roughly 9,000 HUD/FHA workers could lose pay under federal sequestration.

Redwood Trust is coming to the jumbo well once again. Its new MBS is roughly $577 million in size.

A new Supreme Court opinion may force the SEC to speed up its investigation of certain MBS fraud cases.