Servicing

Rising interest rates have slowed a recent run of unexpectedly high prepayments of government-insured mortgages, making servicing rights for loans held in Ginnie Mae securities more attractive to investors.

Caliber will also buy about $36 million of mortgage servicing rights in a deal that is expected to close at the end of March.

The mortgage servicer will pay at least $25 million in cash and provide some $200 million in debt relief to borrowers to resolve a range of alleged violations. But Ocwen will also be allowed to resume acquiring servicing rights in the nation's largest state.

Citigroup's plan to sell a $97 billion mortgage servicing portfolio and subservice its remaining accounts highlights the growing prevalence of nondepository servicers and raises questions about how much capacity exists for these institutions to absorb more large deals.

Citigroup's decision to exit mortgage servicing by the end of 2018 is part of a long-term strategy to increase returns and sharpen the bank's focus on its core retail customers.

Citigroup plans to exit the mortgage-servicing business by the end of 2018 to focus on making new loans.

Citi is close to deals to sell its customer and non-customer servicing portfolios; Wells tries to limit investor resolutions in its annual meeting proxy materials.

The spike in fees compensated for lower interest income.

The $33 billion-asset company’s net income fell 16% to $50 million year over year.

HSBC was fined $32.5 million for failing to comply with a 2011 consent order that directed the bank to revamp its mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices.