Finance

Now that Wells Fargo has tossed its wholesale division into the deep dark sea, the question becomes: who’s next among the megabanks to leave?

Moody’s calculates loan-to-value ratios for commercial mortgage-backed security debt transactions from more of a credit perspective.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin urged regulators to narrow a proposed exemption to the Volcker Rule, saying it may allow banks to avoid compliance with the ban on proprietary trading.

By now you’ve read the stories on the National Mortgage News website about private equity sniffing around the mortgage industry the past two years – and the chatter about some firm with $1 billion to spend. We don’t yet know the name of that fund but it’s interesting gossip nonetheless.

At least two bidders remain for the $30.8 billion of Freddie Mac mortgage servicing rights once owned by the now-defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired a consulting firm to create contingency plans for taking Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank system into receivership.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to level the playing field so that all mortgage loan officers, whether they work at a bank or a mortgage brokerage, undergo similar training and meet the same standards for character, fitness and financial responsibility.

Mortgage brokers and bankers have been waiting anxiously for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue its loan officer compensation rule. This is the rule where the agency convened a ‘Small Business’ panel in the spring to weigh in on compensation and lender education issues. Needless to say, few in the industry came away happy with what was told to them by the agency.

Competition is heating up in the mortgage market as more lenders increase their production capacity, according to the chief financial officer of Fifth Third Bancorp.

Tom Wind, the executive VP of residential and consumer lending at EverBank and an industry veteran whose mortgage banking experience goes back over 20 years, believes the jumbo loan market is in growth mode. Overall housing market improvements and loan limit changes have opened the door to more growth, he said. “The jumbo business out there is starting to rebuild.

SunTrust Banks reported mortgage production income of $103 million for the second quarter, compared with $63 million in 1Q12 and a mere $4 million in 2Q11.

Cardinal Financial Corp. earned $10.2 million in the second quarter, with its mortgage banking division contributing net income of $4.4 million.

Stonegate Mortgage Corp. has hired Flagstar veteran Paul Wyner as senior vice president/national sales manager in charge of third-party residential lending.

First Horizon National in Memphis lost close to $125 million in the second quarter after it bought back scores of soured mortgage loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Citigroup plans to cut roughly 350 additional jobs this year from its securities division, which includes investment banking and trading.

San Bernardino County's proposal to use eminent domain to seize, and then restructure, underwater private-label mortgages could hurt Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

On July 17, a 26-count indictment was unsealed charging Eliseo Jara Jr., Sergio Jara, Antonio Perez Marcial, Lucia Yolanda Chavez, Arlene Jeanette Jara, Candace Shantel Gonzales, Joseph Shawn Chavez Jr., Melissa Rochelle Jara and Ricardo Fabian Salinas in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. The indictment was returned on July 12 by a federal grand jury in Fresno and the defendants were arrested at their residences on July 17.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has reached a consensus on the issue of cities using their power of eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages that reside in private-label MBS, saying it will foul up the securitization process.

As we’ve reported before, private equity firms have been eyeing the mortgage market for the past two years – in particular MSRs. But here’s the catch: although there has been plenty of ‘talk,’ no household name PE firms (if there is such a thing) have taken the bait.

The Prestwick Mortgage Group is marketing a $58 million package of MSRs backed by mostly multifamily commercial mortgages held by private investors.