Tag Archives: RMBS

Bank of America has agreed to a multibillion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to resolve allegations of securities fraud related to loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the height of the housing bubble. Under the agreement, BofA will make an aggregate payment of approximately $9.33 billion, $3.2 billion of which will go toward the repurchase of certain RMBS at fair market value.

According to separate releases from both FHFA and Credit Suisse, the bank will pay approximately $234 million to Fannie Mae and approximately $651 to Freddie Mac—$885 total. The settlement—the ninth out of 18 suits filed against banks by the FHFA in 2011—closes all claims against Credit Suisse in two lawsuits: FHFA v. Credit Suisse, et al. and FHFA v. Ally Financial Inc., et al.

Two months after the implementation date of the qualified mortgage (QM) and ability-to-repay rules, Fitch Ratings announced it has finalized new criteria for analyzing loans in securities taking the new guidelines into account. Fitch developed assumptions with respect to the probability of challenges to the rule or a mortgage’s QM status, as well as the potential costs or damages.

Citing weak Q1 MBS issuance data, researchers for investment bank FBR Capital Markets anticipate a weak first quarter, with issuances likely totaling near $200 billion. While noting that issuances are not the same as origination figures, FBR nevertheless dialed back its first-quarter origination projections to $244 billion, bringing its full-year forecast to $1.2 trillion from $1.3 trillion previously.

The Special Inspector General's office for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced the fraud conviction of a former managing director at New York-based Jefferies & Co. According to Special Inspector Christy Romero, Jesse C. Litvak misrepresented asking prices on residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), pocketing the profits. "Trading in mortgage securities can be a complicated business, but what the defendant did was simple—he lied to, defrauded, and illegally overcharged customers out of pure greed to benefit Jefferies and himself," Romero said.

Freddie Mac's mortgage business grew--albeit slowly--in December, capping the year with an overall negative growth rate.

Freddie Mac's mortgage book of business declined at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines.

Bank of America and Freddie Mac jointly announced Monday an agreement resolving all remaining rep and warranties claims on loans BofA sold to the GSE through the end of 2009.

After weeks of speculation from market watchers and analysts, JPMorgan Chase announced it has finalized a $ 13 billion deal with the Justice Department.

JPMorgan Chase announced Friday it has reached an agreement to pay billions of dollars to resolve claims from investors related to collapsed RMBS issued between 2005-2008.