Deutsche Bank Reviewing Entire Mortgage Biz

Deutsche Bank, a top-ranked issuer of subprime mortgage-backed securities, will conduct a top-to-bottom review of its entire mortgage business in the first quarter, according to officials at the company. A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed that a review will soon be under way, adding that, “there may be a reallocation of assets.” Like many Wall Street firms, Deutsche Bank has both an active trading desk and a warehouse lending group that caters to the nonprime sector, a business that is in the throes of a historic correction. Deutsche Bank’s trading desk is overseen by Michael Commaroto, who is listed in Securities and Exchange Commission documents as president of Deutsche Mortgage Securities. In 2006 Deutsche Bank purchased Chapel Funding Corp., Lake Forest, Calif., a privately held nonprime lender. It also acquired the publicly traded MortgageIT Holdings Inc., New York, the nation’s 21st-largest lender, for $429 million. Deutsche Bank can be found online at http://www.deutsche-bank.com.