Investment banks are bulking up their presence in mortgage lending, once the exclusive domain of their commercial and retail brethren. For some, such as Merrill Lynch, the advantage lies in being able to offer yet another financial product to its wealthy private clients.
Lehman Brothers has spent the past two years quietly building up its mortgage loan origination efforts. ?We now originate 55% of the MBS we underwrite,? says Lehman Brothers CFO David Goldfarb. ?A few years ago that used to be zero.?
Some of this has come from expanding the operations of its bank subsidiary, Lehman Brothers FSB. But it has also been buying...
