PMI

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who's pushing American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock to shrink the insurer and boost returns, said the CEO must offer "a drastic strategic shift" at a presentation scheduled for next week. Icahn's plan includes splitting AIG into three units, one being United Guaranty Corp., a private mortgage insurer.

Radian Guaranty Inc. is in compliance with the government-sponsored enterprises capital standards after receiving $325 million in cash and securities from parent company Radian Group Inc.

Arch Mortgage Insurance introduced a new pricing program to better aligns a policy's risk with the amount of the premium. But analysts have expressed concerns about pricing competition.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is giving private mortgage insurers some hope this holiday season that they might get a chance to offer deeper mortgage insurance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans.

Mortgage stocks for the most part saw price per share gains in the wake of the Federal Open Markets Committee decision to raise short-term rates.

Genworth Financial Inc. has named Kevin Schneider, currently executive vice president of global mortgage insurance, as its chief operating officer.

Fannie Mae is offering yet another carrot to lenders that have lobbied extensively for relief from loan repurchases.

In their search for ways to shift the credit risk of mortgages from taxpayers to capital markets, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be overlooking important players: the lenders that make these loans in the first place.

Legislative proposals to reform the housing finance system have failed to garner enough support, but a surprisingly simply reform idea is in plain sight: deeper private mortgage insurance coverage.