The reverse mortgage industry is lauding a recent Ginnie policy change designed to reduce liquidity pressures for issuers of MBS backed by FHA home equity conversion mortgages.
FINRA plans to implement margin requirements for agency MBS transactions in May. The requirements, which have been delayed for years, will apply to broker-dealers.
Ginnie Mae eligibility requirements issued a year ago are largely set to take effect at the end of the month. Most issuers are in compliance with the standards, according to the agency.
The New York-based financial firm admitted to providing false pricing information to residential MBS clients between 2009 and 2013. It also agreed to cooperate with investigations into former employees.
If the proposal is implemented, some mortgage originations that have gone into bank portfolios would likely go into MBS instead. The impact on bank investment in MBS and ABS looks to be much more modest.
Margin requirements for the to-be-announced market received another approval from the SEC this week. However, a legal challenge could further delay implementation.
A pending proposal led by the Federal Reserve could see big banks facing higher capital requirements on their holdings of securities classified as available-for-sale.
The rounding of home prices in HMDA data complicates the calculation of whether loans below the conforming loan limits are more likely to be securitized into agency MBS in areas affected by climate change.
With the Fed’s exit from the market and the push for shorter durations at banks, industry participants ponder what price agency MBS will clear at and what it will cost homebuyers.