Deutsche Bank To Review Mortgage Operations

Deutsche Bank will reportedly conduct at top-to-bottom review of its various mortgage operations, according to a news brief published Friday at National Mortgage News. Citing an unnamed spokesperson for the bank, NMN confirmed that Deutsche Bank will reassess its mortgage business in the first quarter of 2008; the spokesperson is quoted as saying “there may be a reallocation of assets.” In January, Deutsche Bank completed a $430 million acquisition of MortgageIT Holdings, Inc., the latest in a series of investments the German bank has made in the US mortgage markets. In 2006, the bank also acquired Chapel Funding, a subprime mortgage originator, and entered into a joint venture with the Hispanic National Mortgage Association to provide loans to Hispanic and immigrant borrowers. Like many investment banks, Deutsche Bank also provides warehouse funding facilities and operates a MBS trading desk, both of which will reportedly be included in the review. The German bank’s decision to reassess its mortgage operations comes on the heels of a similar review at Seattle-based Washington Mutual, which announced on December 10 that it would close WaMu Capital Corporation, its MBS trading arm, while laying off more than 3,000 employees. In October, Deutsche Bank confirmed that its MortgageIT unit had cut 580 of its staff amid worsening industry conditions. Disclosure: The author owns various put option contracts on WM; no positions in any other companies mentioned.