Banks Continue Retreating From Non-Mortgage ABS Market as Outstanding Supply of Securities Fell in 4Q15
March 11, 2016
Commercial banks and savings institutions reported another decline in their holdings of non-mortgage ABS in late 2015, continuing an industry pullback that’s been ongoing for two years. Banks held $135.01 billion of ABS as of the end of 2015, according to a new analysis of call-report data by Inside MBS & ABS. That was down 4.2 percent from the third quarter and off 15.9 per-cent from the end of 2014. The supply of outstanding ABS itself fell slightly in the fourth quarter, down 2.3 percent to $704.91 billion, according to data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The ABS market had been growing more-or-less steadily since bottoming out in 2012 before fading in the second half of last ...