FirstMac receives rating upgrade

Standard & Poor's upgraded FirstMac's residential loan servicer ranking.

S&P raised the company from 'above average' to the highest possible level of 'strong', while its outlook remains 'stable'.

FirstMac CEO Kim Cannon said the upgrade should give borrowers and mortgage managers more confidence in dealing with FirstMac.

"Following a rigorous investigation over several months, Standard & Poor's confirmed that FirstMac has set excellent risk management practices to promote a risk conscious culture and implemented a well-designed internal audit program," he said.

"We are particularly proud that the above strategies, combined with enhanced collections procedures, have improved arrears performance to below the Standard & Poor's Mortgage Performance Index."

Mortgage-backed securities back in vogue - Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is poised to become the first regional lender to sell residential mortgage backed securities without government assistance since the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September.

FirstMac's RMBS transaction - The final participation in FirstMac's $470 million 2-2009 RMBS transaction came from six domestic investors, in addition to the AOFM.