Six federal regulators tasked with overseeing risk-retention requirements for residential MBS decided to leave the standards unchanged after a two-year-long review.

The SFA has developed a framework due diligence providers can use to help address uncertainty prompted by new qualified-mortgage standards.

A leadership shuffle at the Fannie/Freddie joint venture ends rumors that its securitization platform would be opened to competing guarantors.

Changes to underwriting standards and home price appreciation helped investors in non-agency MBS largely avoid losses during the pandemic. By comparison, cumulative losses on subprime MBS during the financial crisis of 2008 hit nearly 20%.

The SFA is working to establish a standards-setting organization that would help increase investments in non-QMs. And the association wants prime non-agency MBS to be included in any future revival of TALF.

During a Capitol Hill hearing, House Democrats focused on credit rating shortcomings that allowed for the subprime crisis of 2007-2008 and inadequate reforms that followed.

One of the five draft bills proposed by the House Democrats this week seeks to establish a board that would be responsible for assigning rating services to provide grades on MBS and ABS.

The end of the QM patch — thanks to a maneuver by the FHFA and Treasury — could help the non-agency market compete with the GSEs.

When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the SEC had nine months to issue a rule on conflicts of interest in the securitization market. The proposed rule on the issue has been pending since 2011.

Stakeholders believe an alignment will ensure the most competitive mortgage terms are accessible to the broadest segment of QM-eligible borrowers while continuing to promote safe and sound lending practices.