Securitization

The pension fund sector owns hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage securities. But MBS holdings are such a small percentage of their portfolios, pensions may not be aware of their heft in the industry.

Yields on government-backed mortgage securities that guide U.S. home-loan rates widened to the most relative to Treasuries in almost three months as refinancing soars amid lower borrowing costs.

Standard & Poor's is close to an agreement to pay $1.4 billion to settle claims by the Justice Department and states attorneys general that it inflated subprime mortgage-bond ratings before the financial crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

Canyon Partners is paring its bullish investments in the mortgage-bond market after the hedge fund made about $7 billion in the past decade capitalizing on opportunities leading up to and following the financial crisis.

Justin Wheeler, who was named CEO last week of Berkadia Commercial, the commercial-mortgage business owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National, said global investors are increasingly betting on U.S. property.

Standard & Poor's will be suspended for a year from rating bonds in one of its most lucrative businesses in a $60 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mortgage-focused real estate investment trusts, including those affiliated with Western Asset Management and Pine River Capital Management, are backing loans to Americans who don't meet banks' requirements.

Commercial mortgage-backed security performance could come under further strain this year, as the underwriting on the underlying commercial mortgages continues to loosen. Here are eight indicators to consider in sizing up the CMBS market this year.

Bank of America's expenses still far exceed those of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, so analysts were clearly disappointed Thursday when CEO Brian Moynihan failed to outline any specific plans for further lowering overhead.

Invitation Homes is sticking to the same large loan model of past single-family rental securitizations in its first deal of 2015.

The Supreme Court has denied an appeal from several banks regarding a lawsuit filed by NCUA concerning the sale of mortgage-backed securities that contributed to the failure of two corporate credit unions more than seven years ago.

Blackstone Group is offering the first securities of 2015 tied to rental homes, the start of what Morgan Stanley analysts predict may be a more than doubling of issuance this year in the nascent market for such debt.

Government-backed U.S. mortgage bonds are off to their worst start relative to Treasuries since at least 1997 as investors in the $5.5 trillion market brace for a surge in homeowner refinancing.

Two Harbors' first residential mortgage securitization of the year doesn't exactly break any new ground.

The unpaid principal balance of delinquent commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies fell by 23% as of Dec. 31 compared with the same day one year prior in 2013, according to Fitch Ratings.

CMBS issuance is set to resume as industry players returned to their desks following last week's annual industry shindig hosted by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council in Miami.

Fears that lower Federal Housing Administration premiums will negatively affect private mortgage insurance firms are overblown. If anything, the plan should be a modest positive for the overall housing market.

Standard & Poor's is close to a settlement of about $1 billion with the U.S. for allegedly misleading investors about its ratings of mortgage-backed securities before the subprime crisis.

Freddie Mac in the next month plans to approve three more lenders, including one bank, to make multifamily loans between $1 million and $5 million for GSE purchase and securitization, according to an official. Banks were not initially courted.