Daily Briefing | Friday, February 3, 2012

• Capital Markets Chief at Ally/GMAC Bolts for Fannie Mae

  It appears that possible salary and bonus caps at the GSEs are not hurting the recruiting efforts of at least Fannie Mae.

• Measure to Ban GSE Bonuses Moves Forward in the Senate

  A Senate bill that would bar members of Congress from trading on confidential information was amended Thursday to include a ban on paying bonuses to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

• Provident Financial Hires Dozens of Ex-MetLife Staffers

  Provident Financial Holdings Inc., Riverside, Calif., has hired 40 people from MetLife Home Loans to run three new retail mortgage loan production offices in Northern California.

• IMA Selling $589MM MSR Portfolio

  Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver, is selling a $589 million portfolio of residential servicing rights backed by Fannie Mae and GNMA mortgages.

• Jobs Report: Mortgage Firms A Bit Cautious on New Hires, But...

  Mortgage companies have added at least 3,000 full-time employees to their payrolls since September -- to keep up with refinancings -- but held off on hiring in December, according to new government figures released Friday morning.

• Genworth Posts 4Q Profit, But Mixed News for MI Unit

  Genworth Financial posted earnings of $107 million in the fourth quarter - compared to a $161 million loss a year ago - but its mortgage insurance division continued to struggle.

• RHS Enters Streamline Refi Market With Pilot

  Less than 5% of originations backed by the Rural Housing Service last year were refinancings, but the agency is trying to change all that with a new streamline refi pilot program, unveiled this week by the White House.

• Housing Counselor Gets Six Years in N.Y. Mod Scam

  A New York housing counselor on Thursday was sentenced to six years in prison for bilking 136 mortgage customers who sought loan modifications.

• Barbara Desoer, President of B of A Home Loans, to Retire

  Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America's home loans division who was once considered a possible successor to former Chief Executive Ken Lewis, will retire at the end of February, B of A said Friday.