Mortgage bankers that trade in the to-be-announced MBS market will be exempt from the initial margin requirements associated with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s revised Rule 4210, which was approved by an order of the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Under the rule, as amended now three times by FINRA, market participants who trade TBAs will have to post an initial “maintenance” margin of 2 percent of net position size, along with an on-going variation margin, which will be subject to a $250,000 minimum transfer amount. However, the SEC order provided...

As Tim Rood of The Collingwood Group noted: An investor can buy a mortgage at 65 cents on the dollar, “notify the borrower they are eligible for a note mod down to 80 cents on the dollar and voila!”

The FHFA promises it will provide regular updates on NPL sales going forward…

The product for sale is concentrated in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

A new report from Deutsche Bank estimates that a 3.5 percent rate on mortgages “puts roughly two-thirds of borrowers in the money to refinance…"

Thanks to the megabanks turning “Chicken Little” on mortgages, the nonbanks have gained market share…

BancorpSouth said it reserved $13.8 million during the first quarter of 2016 to resolve matters associated with the settlement, and noted that any additional financial impact is expected to be immaterial.

It could be an earnings bloodbath when servicing markdowns are factored in…

The payment-option ARMs at the center of this pilot program currently are out for bid.

Ares said it will use the cash from the sale of its mortgage banking subsidiary to its “principal lending portfolio.”