| Bank of America (BoA) launched a $7 billion mortgage-backed securities (MBS) transaction on December 14th, according to an announcement by ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P). The transaction, which S&P says is "the largest subprime home-equity transaction ever sold in the private-label market," is collateralized by fixed-rate loans originated by EquiCredit Corp.
Last August, BoA announced it would exit subprime mortgage lending and simultaneously agreed to sell 15 of the EquiCredit branches to an RBMG subsidiary. In October, the company announced that it took a $1.25 billion charge to exit both its subprime and auto leasing businesses. Earlier this month, BoA announced that will sell its subprime real estate servicing operations, as well as the right to serve its existing portfolio, to Fairbanks Capital.
The current $7 billion deal is part of the portfolio to be serviced by Fairbanks.
S&P noted that EquiCredit was the fourth-largest originator of subprime loans in 2000 and one of the largest subprime originators and servicers in the history of the subprime market. From 1991 until August 1999, the company securitized 39 transactions. After that point, EquiCredit retained its originations in its portfolio. |
