UBS, one of the first of the 18 big banks named in lawsuits brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency two years ago in connection with non-agency MBS purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced this week that it is seeking to settle with the FHFA following an adverse federal appeals court ruling against the Swiss and other defendants. In announcing its preliminary second quarter 2013 results, UBS said it has reached “an agreement in principle” with the FHFA to settle claims against its subsidiary UBS Americas related to residential MBS offerings between 2004 and 2007. UBS did not specify...

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will begin disseminating information for so-called specified-pool MBS issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, as well as securities backed by loans with Small Business Administration guarantees. The move is aimed at increasing transparency in specified pools, which represent an estimated 3,500 trades, totaling $18 billion in par value, on an average daily basis. It follows a similar effort by FINRA last year in the to-be-announced market for agency MBS. Transaction data will be circulated...

If anything, the second quarter might be remembered as a period in which banks hiked their MSR values significantly.

Even though Ginnie Mae has already approved more new MBS issuers this year than last – with two months still left in the government’s fiscal year – it has another problem on its hands: few of these firms are actually using the program. “There have been fairly significant holes in participation,” said Gregory Keith, senior vice president and chief risk officer for the agency. In an interview with Inside MBS & ABS, Keith said Ginnie is...

Industry groups are lauding a House Republican’s move last week to re-file a legislative countermeasure against municipalities seeking to use eminent-domain powers to acquire performing but underwater mortgage loans as a warning against localities still entertaining such a course of action. The Defending American Taxpayers from Abusive Government Takings Act, H.R. 2733, by Rep. John Campbell, R-CA, would prevent the “reckless” seizure of distressed home loans by local governments, a move that’s both legally questionable and that represents “a complete abrogation of private property rights.” “The federal government and the American taxpayer would be forced...

Wells Fargo blames regulations for ending its mortgage JVs. Meanwhile, how did the CFPB unearth its information on 'up-selling' at Castle & Cook?

Small lenders have accounted for a growing share of contributions to non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Some deals have included more than 70 lenders, with most of the lenders contributing less than 5 percent of the volume of mortgages included in a security. While the lenders’ individual contributions to a particular jumbo MBS are small, they add up to significant market share, particularly when issuers don’t identify the lenders in prospectus documents filed with the Securities ... [Includes two data charts]

Freddie Mac sold $500 million in non-guaranteed credit risk this week as part of an effort to eventually reduce the government-sponsored enterprises’ market share and help price their guaranty fees. While non-agency investor appetite for the transaction was strong, industry analysts suggest that the deal has limited usefulness for the long-term goals set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Structured Agency Credit Risk Debt Notes Series 2013-DN1 included four tranches, all unrated. The two mezzanine ...

The guaranty fees charged by the government-sponsored enterprises are currently well below levels that would make issuing non-agency mortgage-backed securities attractive for originators of conforming mortgages, according to industry analysts. The g-fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have nearly doubled since 2011 and hit an average of 50 basis points in the first quarter of 2013, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The FHFA has directed the GSEs to increase their g-fees as part of ...

First Republic Bank is one of the few bank originators of non-agency jumbo mortgages that has sold a significant share of its production in the secondary market in the past year. Officials at the bank said the sales have been driven by borrowers’ preference for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and investor demand in the non-agency market, both of which have changed recently. In the first quarter of 2013, First Republic originated $2.32 billion of mortgages, including $1.85 billion in non-agency jumbo mortgages ...