Secondary markets

HSBC Holdings Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc. lost a bid to block claims by a U.S. regulator the banks say were brought too late, clearing the way for a trial of HSBC over questionable mortgage practices.

An examination of the details in the B of A settlement shows many examples of risky behavior, including mortgage applications that were underwritten with "shadow" guidelines that allowed exceptions to approve almost any loan.

It is looking to sell the property within the next three years as part of a plan to consolidate its office space into a single location.

Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index shows ongoing U.S. housing market improvement is uneven despite employment gains in areas with stronger economies.

Allowing the Federal Home Loan Bank System to invest in mortgage-backed securities is just one of many ideas being pitched to policymakers to revive the private-label market.

Essent Group Ltd., the mortgage-insurer backed by George Soros and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is beating older rivals in the stock market as the U.S. plans to tighten regulation of the industry.

New rules are illuminating a once-shadowy market where servicers can be quick to modify loans and may have few qualms about principal reduction. Discounts or equity make such flexibility possible.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae all overlooked warning signs about Taylor, Bean & Whitaker that make them partly to blame for the mortgage lender's multibillion fraud scheme, according to a government watchdog report.

Freddie Mac expects housing demand and supply to increase through next year as the economy gradually returns to normalcy.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to pay $3.15 billion to repurchase residential mortgage-backed securities to resolve federal claims tied to the sale of the bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Goldman Sachs is in the final stages of negotiating $1.1 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, according to a news report Friday.

Delta Lloyds' latest Dutch residential mortgage securitization has an innovative work-around to regulations that make it unattractive to use swaps to hedge interest rate mismatch.

Bank of America Corp. will pay $245 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it failed to disclose rising mortgage losses and the risks of bonds tied to home loans.

Universal American Mortgage Co., the mortgage banking subsidiary of Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, has acquired certain assets of Colorado-based Pinnacle Mortgage Group.

The hot-button topic of what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should charge for loan guarantees is emerging as a key issue in reviving a private-label securitization market.

Second-quarter data show housing activity has lost momentum and may experience only minor improvements in the second half of the year, according to a Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group.

There was a time years ago when second liens were the toughest legacy home loan asset to find a buyer for in the secondary market.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank has received regulatory OK to start pilots for its jumbo and government loan conduits.

While Fannie Mae should have a smooth transition to a new system, Freddie Mac might find the path more treacherous.

Several institutions said their underwriters already exclude paid and unpaid medical debt from their calculation, raising questions about what kind of impact the new model will have on lenders.