The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to move ahead with the development of a common securitization platform.

CMBS special servicers had a busy April, liquidating $1.62 billion in loans, according to a Tuesday Trepp report.

Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) issued a $400 million catastrophe bond Bosphorus 1 Re Ltd. Series 2013-1.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority named Jonathan Sokobin as its chief economist and senior vice president.

Dealer floorplan ABS continues to gain traction as issuance volumes are boosted by rising vehicle sales and the refinancing of maturing transactions.

Standard & Poor’s said that, so far, credit card ABS have surpassed the $8 billion pace set in 2012 but consumer aversion to credit card debt is likely to keep issuance volumes below its forecasted $40 billion total for 2013.

Fitch Ratings said that student loan securitizations backed by rehabilitated Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans tend to be riskier than non-rehab FFLEP deals.

Discover Bank plans to issue $550 million of credit card ABS from its Discover Card Execution Note Trust.

Despite the regulation-induced slowdown in Brazil, Fitch Ratings expects structured finance in Latin America to remain steady in both issuance and the credit environment.

Sallie Mae increased the size of its second private student loan-backed securitization but priced the deal at wider spreads on Friday.

Stephen Mathews took the role of managing director of GC Securities, the firm said today in a press release. He is based in New York.

Corporate borrowers continue to take advantage of strong demand for loans to re-price existing debt, and this is putting a squeeze on some of the biggest buyers of loans—collateralized loan obligations.