Category Archives: regulation

Guest Post: The Migratory Patterns of Yield-Hungry Investors

Editor’s Note: in this guest post, former bond insurance insider Steve Ruterman discusses important considerations for investing in private label MBS beyond credit risk analysis, including how investors can benefit from understanding the differences in servicer behavior and business models.  … Continue reading

Posted in Attorneys General, bondholder actions, conflicts of interest, firing servicers, foreclosure rate, guest posts, hedge funds, incentives, investors, junior liens, loan modifications, loan seasoning, MBIA, MBS, moral hazard, mortgage market, pre-investment due diligence, private label MBS, projecting risk adjusted returns, putbacks, regulation, Regulators, servicer defaults, servicer reports, servicers, subprime | Leave a comment

Way Too Big to Fail Goes to Washington (Book Tour Day 3)

After a hiatus over the holidays, I return with Part IV of this five-part series on my experiences during a recent book tour to promote the release of Way Too Big to Fail: How Government and Private Industry Can Build … Continue reading

Posted in Adam Levitin, bailout, balance sheets, banks, BofA, book tour, chain of title, Citigroup, conflicts of interest, Congress, foreclosure crisis, Government bailout, improper documentation, legislation, lobbying, MBS, mortgage market, negligence and recklessness, pooling agreements, regulation, Regulators, RMBS, robo-signers, Senate staffers, Servicer Safe Harbor, Timothy Geithner, too big to fail, Treasury, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | Leave a comment

Rakoff’s Rejection of SEC Settlement with Citi Sends Stern Message to Wall Street’s Primary Regulator

Two days after the release of one of the most scathing judicial opinions in recent memory, the importance of federal Judge Jed Rakoff’s rejection of the SEC’s $285 million settlement with Citigroup is just beginning to sink in.  In just … Continue reading

Posted in abacus, banks, CDOs, Citigroup, Complaints, consitutionality, costs of the crisis, damages, Goldman Sachs, investigations, investors, JPMorgan, Judge Jed Rakoff, Judicial Opinions, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, media coverage, negligence and recklessness, oversight, Paulson and Co., probes, regulation, Regulators, SEC, securities laws, settlements, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Release of “Way Too Big to Fail” Simply Opening Salvo in Efforts to Reform Mortgage Finance

It’s tempting when you have an enormous task before you to focus all of your attention on completing that task while blocking out any thoughts of what comes next.  For me, that enormous task has been the publication of a … Continue reading

Posted in allocation of loss, appeals, Bank of New York, banks, BofA, bondholder actions, causes of the crisis, contract rights, Countrywide, discovery, FHFA, global settlement, investors, irresponsible lending, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, lobbying, loss causation, MBIA, monoline actions, mortgage market, pooling agreements, private label MBS, putbacks, regulation, Regulators, remand, repurchase, RMBS, securitization, settlements, statistical sampling, successor liability, The Subprime Shakeout, Uncategorized, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | 1 Comment

Say It Ain’t So: SEC Charges "Shoeless" Goldman Sachs With Setting Up CDO To Fail

In a move that represents a significant and unexpected expansion in U.S. regulators’ efforts to crack down on Wall Street, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has charged Goldman Sachs, Wall Street’s most powerful bank, with fraud over its marketing … Continue reading

Posted in AIG, CDOs, Goldman Sachs, investors, lenders, MBIA, mortgage insurers, Paulson and Co., regulation, SEC, securities, securities fraud, Wall St. | Leave a comment