Tag: finance

RBS Securities Inc. has reached a settlement with the government over allegations it deceived customers on mortgage-related securities transactions.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc subsidiary has entered a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice, a statement Thursday said.

At issue is alleged fraudulent trading through its now-defunct U.S. asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities trading group.

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From:: Financing

For the first time since the financial crisis, regulatory approval has been granted for a financial institution to receive a national bank charter.

The charter was approved for Winter Park National Bank of Florida by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to an announcement Friday.

It turns out that the Winter Park, Florida, bank is the first de novo national bank and first de novo approved for federal deposit insurance in Florida since the financial crisis.

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From:: Financing

Quarterly home-lending activity slowed at Hilltop Holdings Inc. and could descend even further. Mortgage earnings were down by more than half.

In its third-quarter 2017 earnings report, the Dallas-based bank-holding company disclosed $48 million in income before income taxes.

Hilltop’s earnings plunged from the same quarter last year, when they were $86 million. Income also deteriorated from $89 million the preceding quarter.

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From:: Financing

Long-term mortgage rates worsened over the past week. Both short- and long-term forecasts have interest rates on single-family loans climbing even further.

Thirty-year fixed rates on conventional, conforming mortgages that are used to finance a home purchase averaged 4.14 percent in September.

The average improved compared to the preceding month, when it worked out to 4.19 percent. In September 2016, the average was 3.73 percent.

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From:: Financing

Home-lending activity saw a quarter-over-quarter gain and a year-over-year loss at Finance of America Holdings LLC. Headcount continued to grow.

The Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company serviced 11,115 single-family loans that had a collective unpaid principal balance of $2.096 billion as of Sept 30.

The data, along with a host of other operational metrics, were revealed as part of the Mortgage Daily Third Quarter 2017 Mortgage Origination Survey.

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From:: Financing

This year’s projected commercial mortgage production is modestly higher than last year’s volume. Next year’s originations are expected to match 2017.

An estimated $515 billion in commercial real estate loans, including multifamily, are expected to have been originated by the time this year concludes.

That’s an improvement compared to last year, when commercial mortgage production was previously reported at $490.6 billion.

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From:: Financing

Pending home sales have diminished to the lowest level in nearly 2 years. Although recent hurricanes hurt activity in the South, a quick recovery is expected for the region.

In September, the Pending Home Sales Index — an indication of upcoming single-family home sales based on contract signings — landed at a seasonally adjusted 106.0.

While the index was unchanged from the downwardly revised level the prior month, it still remains at its lowest level since it was an upwardly revised 104.7 in January 2015 — a 17-month high at the time.

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From:: Financing

As rising rates and a tight housing supply have hurt mortgage earnings at HomeStreet Inc., the company has taken steps to reduce the size of its home-lending business.

Before the provision for income taxes, the Seattle-based bank-holding company revealed in its third-quarter 2017 earnings report $20 million in income.

Earnings were slashed by more than half from the $43 million earned during the same-three months last year. But income improved from $16 million in the preceding quarter.

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From:: Financing

Mortgage earnings fell from the prior quarter and a year prior at BOK Financial Corp. Originations were also down and plunged from a year earlier.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based parent of Bank of Oklahoma disclosed in its third-quarter earnings report net income before taxes of $128 million.

Earnings improved compared to the same-three months last year, when the financial institution earned $107 million. But income came up short of the $137 million earned three months earlier.

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From:: Financing

It’s been a decade since the pace of new home sales was as strong as it was last month. The biggest month-over-month increase was in the Northeast.

On a preliminary basis, sales of new privately owned single-family houses totaled 52,000 units during all of September 2017.

That brought the number of new residential properties sold during the first-nine months of this year to 474,000.

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From:: Financing