Elsewhere, in the report FHFA claims significant progress has been made on the development and initial testing of the GSEs’ common securitization platform.

Meanwhile, a new report from Compass Point Research is predicting that the FHFA will establish a final risk-to-capital threshold for MIs of 18:1.

“Watt will not lower the ceiling for 2014,” said one mortgage insurance executive. “Maybe, he will change them at some point but, not next year.”

HUD has been steadily auctioning off nonperforming mortgages the past few months. Sources in the market disclosed to IMFnews who some of the winning bidders are. They include: Credit Suisse, Ellington, Kondaur, PIMCO and Varde.

In letters to two government agencies, a group of 10 Democrat lawmakers said the FHFA should continue to provide access to government-sponsored enterprise MBS guaranties and the Department of Housing and Urban Development should allow FHA mortgage insurance in such communities.

The IG's office of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is working with various U.S. Attorneys on reviews of lenders’ loan origination practices to determine their compliance with enterprise requirements.

The civil action entails the alleged taking from WJB of some 5,000 loan files. It should be noted that these aren’t just any LOs – the group in question ranks among the top producers in the nation.

According to an analysis from Inside MBS & ABS, barring a sudden, unexpected shift in strategy, the Fed by the end of this year will exceed the total MBS holdings of commercial banks and thrifts.

Commercial banks continued to see their investment in residential MBS slowly evaporate during the third quarter of 2013 even though the overall market appears to finally be growing again. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of recently-released call report data shows that commercial banks and thrifts held a combined $1.513 trillion of residential MBS as of the end of September. That was down 1.0 percent from the end of June and represented the lowest level since the middle of 2011. Depositories and other private MBS investors have...[Includes two data charts]

In just a matter of days, JPMorgan Chase agreed to two separate settlements totaling $17.5 billion to resolve federal and state civil claims as well as representation and warranty and servicing claims involving residential MBS. On Nov. 19, the Department of Justice, along with other federal and state agencies, announced a $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan, which acknowledged making misrepresentations about billions of dollars in MBS sold to investors prior to Jan. 1, 2009. The settlement is said to be the largest combination of damages and civil fines for a single entity in U.S. history. Most of the damage was inflicted...