The Federal Open Market Committee surprised the market in that the announced MBS buying was limited to agency fixed-rate MBS only and not Treasurys, although it will continue Operation Twist through yearend as scheduled.

In the structured finance space, the Sept. 13 Federal Reserve announcement that it is beginning a new quantitative easing program of buying $40 billion in MBS per month is set to have the most impact on levered CMBS pricing levels.

With 47 deals priced, European ABS issuance in 2012 year-to-date is at the highest level of activity since 51 deals in 2008 year-to-date, Dealogic reported.

The Federal Housing Administration has opened the bids for its Sept. 12 sale of 5,000 nonperforming formerly insured FHA loans and the results are “very, very positive,” acting commissioner Carol Galante said.

FDIC Acting Martin Gruenberg said that regulators can complete the Volcker rule, , which implements the Dodd-Frank Act's ban on proprietary trading by banks, before January. 1, 2013.

Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., is working a bill that would encourage the re-emergence of a private-label securities market by exempting certain loan pools from risk retention and SEC registration.

In August, roughly $2 billion loans were resolved and taken out from the index versus $1.7 billion of new delinquencies added to the index.

Bluegreen Corp. has completed a timeshare ABS while Westgate Resorts' deal got rated by S&P for a combined $122 million tally of transactions in the sector.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opposes a 20% downpayment on low-risk mortgages. It will not use its special rule-writing powers to undermine the Dodd-Frank Act, director Richard Cordray told lawmakers Thursday.

Survey respondents also expect two important buyers of loans, CLOs and loan mutual funds, to boost their assets in 2013.

General Electric Capital Corp. is planning to issue a securitization under its GE Equipment Midticket LLC, Series 2012-1.

Freddie Mac, after being criticized by the Inspector General’s office of its regulator, has improved its mortgage buyback reviews and could recoup an additional $3.4 billion in damages.