When it comes to trading in agency MBS, Deutsche Bank is heading for the exits as a lack of volume in a once-thriving profit center continues to head south. Granted, Deutsche’s departure from the space is part of a huge worldwide restructuring at the German-based bank, but with MBS trading volume falling to a 13-year low last year – and not looking much better this year – the decision was likely an easy one. Chris Whalen, senior managing director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, said...
The Structured Finance Industry Group and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association plan to file a “friend of the court” brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in support of a defendant in a case affecting consumer ABS – the severity of which is a matter of debate. In the case of Madden v. Midland Funding, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals back in May determined that a debt buyer who purchased defaulted credit card accounts from a national bank is not entitled to collect interest under the National Bank Act at the rate set in the cardholder agreement. About a month later, SFIG and SIFMA filed...
Bank of America has disclosed a $335 million settlement with a Pennsylvania public school pension fund, ending a four-year class-action lawsuit brought by shareholders. BofA made the disclosure without much detail in its 10-K filing. According to the bank, the $335 million, which will be used to settle multiple claims, was fully accrued as of June 30, 2015. A bank spokesman declined to comment on the settlement. Shareholders led...
Now that rates are rising, one might expect Freddie to have a blow-out quarter in 4Q. Will Rep. Garrett issue a statement in February congratulating the GSE on a great job?
Vendors that have been supplying the mortgage lending community with the technology necessary to implement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule are suddenly under regulatory scrutiny over the struggles some lenders have had in being fully compliant with the new regulation. The so-called TRID rule took effect Oct. 3, 2015. A dark cloud began...
Mortgage lenders made it tougher for borrowers to obtain mortgage credit in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the first three months of the year. The mortgage credit availability index overall fell slightly in the second quarter to 5.3, down from 5.5 in the prior quarter, although that level still remains above the low of 4.6 in the third quarter of 2013, according to the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center (HFPC). The HFPC uses...
It remains to be seen whether the mortgage servicing market actually grew in the third quarter of 2015, but it’s clear that distribution within the industry continued to shift. The top 50 mortgage servicers had a combined portfolio of $7.300 trillion, including whole loans in portfolio and mortgage servicing rights, at the end of September, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. That was down 0.2 percent from total servicing held by the top 50 companies at the end of the second quarter. The final word on mortgage debt outstanding comes...[Includes two data tables]
Freddie Mac’s $475 million net loss in the third quarter of 2015 – its first in four years – underscores the need to rebuild capital reserves at the two government-sponsored enterprises and to plan for their emergence from conservatorship, according to some mortgage groups and housing advocates. In a joint letter, the Community Home Lenders Association and the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, both of which represent small independent mortgage lenders, urged President Obama to support recommended revisions to a sweep agreement that prohibits the GSEs from rebuilding capital and to free them from conservatorship. Freddie’s third-quarter loss was...
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