Securitization

Freddie Mac's second quarterly loss in less than a year makes it clear profitability is getting tougher as it shrinks. But it's a concern that must be weighed against more long-term efforts to reduce Freddie's overall credit risk exposure.

Bank of America Corp. said it reached a $190 million agreement to resolve a six-year-old legal claim from Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle over mortgage-backed securities sold before the financial crisis.

A federal judge approved Goldman Sachs Group's $272 million settlement with investors who claimed the bank misled them about the safety of billions of dollars worth of residential mortgage-backed securities.

A recently enacted requirement from the Securities and Exchange Commission places liability for collateral assets within securitization trust funds squarely on the shoulders of a depositor's chief executive, prompting calls for more extensive due diligence procedures.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority intends to offer $189 million in tax-exempt bonds Tuesday to finance single-family mortgages.

The statute of limitations on private lawsuits against trustees and servicers of housing bubble-era residential mortgage-backed securities could run out in a few years.

The recent proposal is less about fixing fundamental flaws in our mortgage finance system and more about finding a broadly acceptable path to resolving the current impasse in mortgage finance reform.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency added its voice to the chorus of credit rating agencies downplaying the risks of mortgages that fail to comply with new consumer disclosure rules.

Goldman Sachs Group will pay $5.1 billion to settle a U.S. probe into its handling of mortgage-backed securities involving allegations that loans weren't properly vetted before being sold to investors as high-quality bonds.

Commercial and multifamily originators closed $504 billion in loans last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's experiments with selling credit risk to investors are a critical element of new plan to merge the two entities and move them out of conservatorship, but what form so-called credit risk transfers take could make a big difference.

Nomura Holdings Inc. held a training session after a former Jefferies & Co. managing director was indicted for fraud and encouraged its traders not to lie — but that didn't stop the fibbing to customers about bond prices, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Stuart Delery, the Justice Department official overseeing civil investigations of banks for conduct related to the financial crisis, is stepping down April 14 to explore options in the private sector.

Defaults on commercial mortgage-backed securities declined for the fifth straight year in 2015, according to Fitch Ratings.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week not to review a mortgage-backed securities lawsuit renewed interest in a long-brewing legal conflict over the mandate of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act.

In a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, the Association of Mortgage Investors said that the "Know Before You Owe" rule has "resulted in a climate of legal uncertainty" and is "chilling" private investment in the U.S. mortgage market.

The government agency that guarantees securitizations of Federal Housing Administration-insured loans is experimenting with a pool type that consists only of modifications and reperforming loans.

The National Credit Union Administration said it has accepted a $29 million offer of judgment from Credit Suisse to resolve claims arising from losses related to purchases of residential mortgage-backed securities by Members United and Southwest Corporate Credit Unions.

Redwood Trust has promoted its chief financial officer, Christopher Abate, to replace its departing president, Brett Nicholas.

The California Supreme Court's recent ruling that a borrower has the right to challenge a wrongful foreclosure opens the door for a tighter mortgage market while leaving key questions about future borrower lawsuits unanswered.