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As a grim rescue effort here continued last week with little prospect of finding new survivors, twenty-three member firms of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America that had offices in the World Trade Center complex struggled to resume business, with a little help from colleagues and even competitors.
At least two prominent executives familiar to mortgage industry veterans are among the missing, and have been presumed dead. A third, who co-founded an investment banker active in housing finance, has also been reported as presumed dead.
At the investment banking firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods, David Graifman, a senior executive who has been quoted in this newspaper and its affiliates many times, was confirmed missing, according to the company's website.
Mr. Graifman formerly worked at Standard & Poor's Corp., and was among the early experts on mortgage technology issues.
Mr. Graifman covered Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other mortgage- related stocks for KBW.
In late July, Mr. Graifman co-authored a report on new risk-based capital rules, analyzing their effect on the two government- sponsored enterprises as well as the mortgage insurance industry. The report was co-authored by Harmita Selhi, whose safety has been confirmed by KBW.
Last week, KBW survivors were carrying on the firm's work in several locations, including space donated by the law firm of Wachtell Lipton in Manhattan.
Mr. Graifman and Neil Levin, former chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, were the most prominent...