In general, mortgage-related earnings were strong at the nation's banks in the second quarter, but clearly earnings "leakage" is underway. And yes, gain-on-sale is starting to slip.
FHFA sued UBS in 2011 over $4.5 billion in RMBS securities that the bank sponsored and $1.8 billion in third party RMBS sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Its no secret that the market for nonperforming mortgages has improved nicely this year, but now there are signs of life in the re-performing sector as well, especially among investors that hope to package and securitize the notes. According to Jeana Curro, director of agency MBS strategy for Royal Bank of Scotland, the re-performing MBS market is small, although not insignificant. But getting a true handle on MBS backed by re-performing loans can be...
Both supporters and detractors of a House Republican bill aimed at comprehensive mortgage finance reform told members of the House Financial Services Committee this week the proposal has room for improvement, but the author of the proposal is pulling out all the stops to get the legislation on the fast track despite a nearly complete lack of bipartisan support. This weeks hearing, called by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, committee chairman and author of the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, was designed to gather input on the bill with an eye toward marking up the PATH Act before the House adjourns for its August recess. The bill would put...
In what may well be his last appearance before Congress as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke this week indicated the central banks much-debated tapering of its massive asset purchase program is likely to begin later this year and then cease altogether by the middle of 2014, assuming the U.S. economy progresses as the Fed anticipates. At the same time, the Fed chief emphasized the Federal Open Market Committee will continue to be flexible in responding to market and economic conditions, all based on the flow of data coming into the committee. Bernanke said the FOMC has made...