Reuters - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc has rehired Jeffrey Kronthal, a fixed-income executive who left the company last year, to help sort through its subprime mortgage problems, the brokerage told employees on Monday. Read more…

Reuters - Home builder sentiment held at a record low for a third consecutive month in December, weighed down by problems in the mortgage market and a huge supply of unsold houses, an industry group said on Monday. Read more…

FT.com - Centro Properties, Australia's second-biggest shopping mall owner, has become the latest victim of the US subprime mortgage fallout after defaulting on A$1.3bn ($1.1bn) of loans, forcing the company into a "work-out" with its banks. Read more…

AFP - Exposure to the US market for more risky home loans at troubled German lender IKB could cost its main, state-run owner more than five billion euros (7.2 billion dollars), reports said Monday. Read more…

Reuters - Japan's top three banks are expected to resist a request to put up a total of $15 billion for a U.S.-led subprime rescue fund, a move that could further cloud prospects for the bailout plan. Read more…

FT.com - Half of homeowners whose mortgage rates have risen in the past year have cut back on spending to pay the more expensive loans, according to Bank of England research published on Monday. Read more…

AFP - It is time for the banks to fully disclose their US home-loan losses to prevent fear from making a tough credit crunch worse since the central banks have done about all they can to restore confidence, analysts say. Read more…

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AP - People taking out home mortgages may gain new protections soon against shady lending practices as the Federal Reserve seeks to back even the riskiest borrowers, already hit hardest by the housing and credit crunches. Read more…

FT.com - The Senate passed a bill on Friday that could help an estimated 200,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure, bringing lawmakers a step nearer to enacting legislation addressing the subprime mortgage crisis after weeks of deadlock. Read more…

Reuters - Three Japanese banks that have been asked to provide $5 billion each to a subprime support fund planned by U.S. banks have balked at what they see as an unreasonably high figure, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday. Read more…

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Reuters - The Senate on Friday overwhelmingly passed legislation to expand the nation's largest federal homeownership program in a move that could help struggling subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure. Read more…

FT.com - You have a house, a large mortgage and all the usual bills keep coming through the letterbox: electricity, gas, telephone, credit card. You are committed to building an extension to your house, but loans have become expensive and it would use up all of your savings. To make matters worse the housing market is looking shaky. Read more…

Reuters - Goldman Sachs said on Friday that Citigroup Inc's bonds were poised to outperform after its debt rating was cut and it unveiled a plan to rescue $49 billion of off-balance sheet investments. Read more…

AP - Fannie Mae's CEO told shareholders Friday he does not expect a housing market recovery until late 2009, "at the earliest," and that the mortgage-finance company is strong enough to ride out the downturn. Read more…

Reuters - The Senate on Friday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would expand the nation's largest federal homeownership program in a move that could help struggling subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure. Read more…

AP - The thousands of Americans facing foreclosure because of the ballooning interest rates on their subprime mortgages would get help from the federal government under legislation overwhelmingly approved by senators Friday. Read more…

FT.com - Banks are seeking to crack down on mortgage fraud as evidence mounts of a rise in the number of fraudulent borrowers. Abbey and Lloyds TSB are among the banks reporting a surge in the volume of potentially fraudulent mortgage applications in recent months. Read more…

Reuters - The Federal Reserve Board said on Friday it has scheduled an open board meeting on December 18 to discuss proposed rule changes on mortgage lending to address unfair and deceptive lending practices. Read more…

At the East Side Organizing Project in Cleveland, six home owners recently went in for group foreclosure counseling. When asked if any had taken out payday loans, four hands shot up. Read more…

Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's bet that securities backed by risky home loans would fall in value brought nearly $4 billion of profits in the year ended November 30, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Thursday, citing people familiar with its finances. Read more…

AFP - World stock markets paused for breath on Friday after closing sharply lower the day before on concerns about the economic fallout of the US home loan crisis, notably the global credit crunch. Read more…

AFP - The world's biggest bank Citigroup is taking on board 49 billion dollars' (34 billion euros) worth of hugely devalued subprime loans to reassure markets amid a credit downgrading on concern about its capital base. Read more…

AP - Attorneys general in California and Illinois are investigating the lending practices of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, officials said Thursday. Read more…