Private-label

PHH Corp. plans to close a Buffalo, N.Y.-area office next year, which will result in the layoff of 80 employees, extending the staff reductions already taken in 2016.

Credit Suisse Group must face New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's $10 billion lawsuit accusing the bank of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday in a split decision.

A group of traders in JPMorgan's investment bank has expanded from selling commercial mortgage-backed securities to underwriting loans that are unsuitable for bonds, such as those for big construction projects.

One of latest proposals for reviving the private-label residential mortgage market involves improving communications between issuers and investors.

Some mortgage bond traders tangled up in investigations are moving into the shadow banking system, where their new employers have greater latitude to hire people with blemishes on their records.

President-elect Donald Trump's imminent choice for Commerce secretary is a billionaire investor who swooped in to prop up troubled banks after the financial meltdown. Some members of the banking world, including regulators, may be glad he was picked for Commerce chief instead of Treasury secretary.

Ally Financial has agreed to pay $52 million to settle probes and claims related to its role as the underwriter for subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2006 and 2007.

Shellpoint Partners is preparing its first private-label mortgage securitization in over a year, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

A third securitization of single-family rental properties by Colony American Finance is also the smallest to date for the REIT-affiliated lender.

Barclays is trying to draw a line at $2 billion in penalties to settle a U.S. investigation into its sale of mortgage securities after it received an opening offer that it considered too high.

Moody's Corp. said federal officials are planning a lawsuit over its ratings of residential mortgage securities that critics contend were inflated to win business in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Independent mortgage bankers are concerned that if Congress votes to privatize the Common Securitization Platform, it could give large banks too much control over the real estate finance market.

Bank of America has ended its agreement with PHH Corp. that saw the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company perform private-label originations for Merrill Lynch.

Towd Point Mortgage Trust is adding more "dirty" pool assets into its fourth reperforming mortgage securitization of 2016.

JPMorgan opted for more geographic diversity in its third securitization this year of prime fixed-rate residential mortgages predominately located in high-priced urban markets.

So long as government-backed entities are guaranteeing 90% of originations, competition that could result in greater mortgage options for borrowers is being stifled. But a return of private capital to the market, possibly through securitization, could fix that.

The first reboot of S&P 500 Index group weights in almost two decades has arrived, shaking up stock portfolios and conjuring an industry out of real estate investment trusts that will infuse at least one lightweight ETF with sudden riches.

Caliber Home Loans is preparing a second subprime residential mortgage securitization, just months after completing its first U.S. subprime asset-backed deal of the post-crisis era.

Despite headwinds working against the mortgage insurance industry, this business could be the catalyst for bringing private capital back to the mortgage market.

PHH Corp. said Merrill Lynch plans to bring more of its origination activity back in house and that could hurt pretax earnings by $13 million in the second half of the year.