Welcome to the Watterson Prime Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Watterson-Prime acquisition brought to PricewaterhouseCoopers a business that for over a decade has provided hundreds of companies with the information base they need to confidently sell, acquire and securitize portfolios of loans, leases and other assets.
The clients need to collect, maintain, analyze, manage a vast amount of data and the ability to clarify and simplify complex data is a powerful business tool. Helping you do that is the business of the Watterson Prime Group.
Asset information and analysis services
Securitization and loan portfolio sales are the backbone upon which our business is built. Much of our work is made up of consulting with clients on strategic planning when conducting asset sales, negotiating sales agreements and analysing and supporting asset transfers, including due diligence, quality assurance, stacking, shipping and delivery.
With this experience and through our worldwide network of professionals, we can access the right local, national and global resource to analyze and evaluate markets, properties, portfolios and transactions of any type, virtually anywhere in the world.
Due diligence
Thorough planning, precise and efficient logistical coordination, proprietary technology and the highest standard of excellence in staff and service are all hallmarks of our due diligence service.
Over the years we have reviewed millions of asset files. We have provided reviews of single assets and have investigated upward of 100,000 files in a single assignment. We have reviewed files representing almost every type of financial and real asset and apply this experience to meet our clients' individual needs.
Our clients benefit from our emphasis on a detailed scoping of the project at the outset of each assignment. We know from experience that clearly understanding what critical data elements will be collected, analyzed and reported on at the outset of a project greatly enhances our ability to provide accurate and timely information.
Due diligence methodology
Due diligence activities are fundamental to the timely completion of portfolio transactions. Our experience with large numbers and types of assets have demonstrated that proactive project planning is vital to the successful completion of even seemingly routine due diligence assignments.
Our technology plays a big part in the quality of our reviews. On each job site, we establish a PC-based local area network using proprietary software to ensure data integrity, reliability and reporting.
Our success is the direct result of combining:
- Experienced project management
- Proactive client interface
- Well trained staff
- Adequate staffing levels
- Effective systems and software
- Careful quality control from start to finish
- Underwriters, analyst and managers with comprehensive knowledge of the industry
- Experienced logistical support
A growing concern
For the last several years, Regulatory Compliance for residential mortgage lending has been a growing concern in the industry. Both the increase of sub-prime lending and the proliferation of federal, state, county, and local regulations intended to protect consumers, have made it far more complex for lenders and buyers of loans to confidently and appropriately address their regulatory compliance risks.Fair lending issues, predatory lending concern, legal exposure and many other aspects of regulatory compliance affect all members of the lending community—mortgage banks and brokers, commercial banks and thrifts institutions, warehouse lenders, investment banks, and potentially, even bond holders.
What are the risks?
The risks for an organization are varied:
- Legal risk from unplanned or unexpected litigation
- Regulatory risk in the case of negative findings in a review
- Reputation risk if compliance results affect the public's perception of an institution.
Add to this the difficulty in keeping pace with the rapidly changing rules and complex issues surrounding compliance.
The result
Lenders of all size are spending an increasing amount of time and resources dealing with these issues. To address the needs, PricewaterhouseCoopers has created the Compliance Analysis Program, a fully integrated program providing a lender with an in-depth analysis of its lending practices in this area.
The Compliance Analysis Program consists of:
- A review of business and operational issues for regulatory compliance
- A review of counter-party licensing issues (mortgage broker, banker, etc.)
- A review of sample loan files
- Tests for fair lending practices within the organization and with its counterparts
- Tests for predatory lending practices within the organization and its counterparts
- Coordination with internal and external counsel
- Staff training
- Technology support to provide maintenance and tracking of all federal, state, and local compliance laws
- Trends and risk assessment reports provided on a regular basis to executive management.
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