The number of rating upgrades in the first quarter for U.S. structured finance transactions was nearly triple that of a year earlier, with commercial mortgage-backed securities leading the way, according to Fitch Ratings.Upgrades totaled 1,203 in the first quarter, compared with 421 in the first quarter of 2005, Fitch says in its latest global update report. The ratio of upgrades to downgrades also improved dramatically, rising from 1.1 to 1 in the first quarter of 2005 to 4.1 to 1. "By far the best-performing U.S. structured finance sector was CMBS, as evidenced by its 28.4:1 upgrade-to-downgrade ratio," the rating agency reported. "A sharp rise in defeasance was largely responsible for 483 upgrades, compared to just 17 downgrades." Residential MBS also turned in a strong rating performance, recording a 3.4 to 1 upgrade-to-downgrade ratio in the first quarter, far ahead of its 0.9 to 1 ratio a year earlier. "Longer term, however, the rate of RMBS upgrades will likely dwindle due to slowing prepayment speeds and subsequently slow build-up of credit enhancement," Fitch predicted. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.
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While home lenders are seeing a decrease in issues coming through mobile channels, phone fraud spiked last year, accounting for 28% of losses, a new report found.
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The massive mortgage business saw a first quarter profit mitigated by nearly $300 million in hedging losses.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has seen excessive property-inspection charges, fees that loan mods should eliminate and improper line-item labels.
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Michael Tannenbaum, whose experience in the financial services industry spans over 15 years, has a track record of helping companies scale and grow.
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