Commercial real estate loans are making Wall Street headlines again. Joint financing options are becoming increasingly abundant for financial firms struggling to handle the fall out from recent volatility in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. During the summer, yields rose steadily, increasing the need for investor protection measures. As part of events underway, Barclays CApital announced a partnership with FundCore Finance Group to conduct CMBS loans jointly.

Enhanced technology initiatives for wholesale and correspondent lenders is now available thanks to ClosingCorp's new platform. The company recently announced that it would release the SmartGFE Service, targeting streamlined processing for entities in both markets. ClosingCorp's SmartGFE product will provide instant access to RESPA-based Good Faith Estimate (GFE) data to those in the wholesale and correspondent segments.

Changes are on the way for Clopton Capital, with the company's recent announcement that it would launch a small-balance mortgage plan for minimally-sized loans. Primarily focused on commercial mortgages, SBA loans, commercial real estate loans, and niche financing, Clopton's new program is a rarity among similar lenders Clopton's offering will target single applicant loans between $25,000 and $400,000.

An international partnership between the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and Clearstream is set to enhance operations for bilateral loans. The companies plan to combine DTCC's Loan/SERV and Clearstream's collateral management platform to streamline the registration and reconciliation of loans, as well as facilitate the use of loans as collateral. DTCC and Clearstream will the collaboration to support credit claims and syndicated loan markets, with Clearstream initiating the leveraging of DTCC's Loan/SERV reconciliation service during the first half of 2012.

Three of the largest U.S. financial institutions are teaming up to fund a major home giveaway for injured veterans, in collaboration with the Military Warriors Support Foundation (MWSF) JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are making donations to provide seven mortgage-free homes to American soldiers hurt in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The banks are partnering with other industry entities to create the housing gift, which part of MWSF's Homes4WoundedHeroes program.

Numbers between the second and third-quarters of the year lend an in depth look at the real estate markets to invest in now. According to HomeVestors and Local Market Monitor, Inc., now is the time to buy in some of the nation's most compromised areas. The latest data reveals that around 14 percent of single-family residential properties are maintained as rental products, and the company's statistics demonstrate the key locations yielding a high risk-return premium based on national averages.

Fidelity Bank has hired a new leader for its mortgage division with the addition of John M. Pruitt. Charged with full management of the financial institutions mortgage services, Pruitt will join the bank's Atlanta headquarters. Boasting more than 26 years of retail mortgage experience, Pruitt has been in previous executive positions with various companies in the mortgage industry.

CoreLogic has released second-quarter numbers that shed some positive light on struggling markets. The company's most recent survey indicates that negative equity is on the decline in some of the most affected areas, and additional results show that many homeowners with underwater mortgages are paying higher interest rates on those loans. Borrowers in negative equity at the close of the second quarter totaled 10.9 million, for a market share of 22.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, representing a slight downward trend.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is speaking out again on new legislation that would block regional presidents within the Federal Reserve system from voting participation in the Federal Open Market Committee. Rep. Frank, author of the proposed bill, is seeking to replace five seats on the committee ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô those traditionally reserved for the presidents of regional Fed banks ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô with four hand-selected individuals, chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Rep. Frank is also said to be working on an updated version of the legislation.

Nicholas G. Hahn is joining Captiol Bancorp Limited as its new interim chief financial officer. In his new role, Hahn will be charged with overseeing all finance and accounting operations for the lender.