The Royal Bank of Canada officially closed its $2.5 billion U.S. SEC registered covered bonds issue this morning said sources familiar with the deal.

By the end of this year, RMBS issuers keen on obtaining funding from the European Central Bank, as well as those already using these securities as collateral in sale and repurchase agreements, will need to input data on the underlying mortgages into the newly created European DataWarehouse, known pithily as ED.

Gibbs & Bruns cited at least $15 billion of Wells Fargo's RMBS and $5 billion from Morgan Stanley where holders have 25% or 50% or more of the voting rights.

Continental Airlines is offering $843.9 million of passthrough certificates through a deal called CAL 2012-2.

Refinancing activity increased slightly in the week ending Sept. 14 as new lows in mortgage rates were set.

United Auto Credit and Westlake Financial Services are both planning to sell their respective ABS deals.

The OCC this week issued new guidance to federally chartered banks and thrifts that are lending money to buyers of REO to turn those units into rentals.

JPMorgan Chase Bank-sponsored Scholar Funding Trust 2012-B will be issuing class A notes worth $235 million rated by both Moody's and Fitch.

A report from the FHFA inspector general noted that as of late 2011, the GSEs had placed over 300 high-risk counterparties on watch lists and stopped doing business with over 40 of them.

The National Association of Realtors said that it hopes the Fed’s decision to buy more MBS will lower mortgage rates and stimulate demand in the housing sector.

The independent third-party review firm has hired the securitization expert as general counsel, the company said in a release today.

The second lien market has been on the decline since the housing bust of 2008, but there’s growing evidence that business is starting to gain traction.