National Wholesale Funding - Agency, Alt-A, Subprime

From an email forwarded to us today, an AE with National Wholesale Funding (NWF), a division of Colorado Federal Savings Bank (CFSB), states "We have exited wholesale." A brief call to CFSB's corporate office in Greenwood Village, CO confirmed this. The wholesale division was operated by an affiliate office in Dallas, TX whom we were instructed to call for more info. The offices were closed when we tried to call, but we expect to hear back from them.

The NWF business unit is actually a net branch affiliate of CFSB, one of 11 reported in this ABA Banking Journal article in July of 2003:

"Colorado Federal Savings has 11 net branches around the country--several in Colorado, others in Hawaii, Texas, Arkansas, California, and Maryland. This structure results in large number of employees for the bank's asset size (about $47 million as of early June). Whereas in terms of actual overhead, the company is managed by about eight people in the Greenwood Village (Denver) main office."

In a FAQ on their web site, CFSB further explains the relationship:

"We, and our full time employees, are exempted from state licensing to originate mortgages in all 50 states. Our management staff has significant experience in the mortgage banking industry. That is our strength and our focus. At the close of 2005, we have 10 business units that originate residential mortgages. Those units each have their own origination strategy including wholesale, traditional retail and nationwide consumer direct through the Internet. Each of those units is managed by a seasoned, mortgage professional. For 2005, total mortgage banking loan originations will approach $ 1 billion."

Actual volume was a bit less according to allmortgagedetail.com. Across all of its units, CFSB's average monthly originations for 2006 were just over $43 million. 2005 volume was slightly less, at around $36 million.

We should have more information soon, so watch for updates. Meanwhile, if you know more about their volume and employees who will be affected by the exit, let us know.