December was a slow month for MBS trades but 2019, on average, was quite good. Meanwhile, just when you thought rates might start rising, a monkey wrench or two gets thrown into the works.
The Mortgage Bankers Association recommended changes to Ginnie Mae’s proposed Digital Collateral Guidance to clarify requirements for accepting digital promissory notes and other documents.
The novelty of prepayment as a primary risk factor is one of the charms MBS have for foreign investors, particularly sophisticated institutional investors. That’s because it has a relatively low correlation factor with other assets.
The changes outlined to boost funding for Ginnie Mae servicing rights could bring the agency closer to the market for MSRs on GSE loans, according to industry stakeholders.
The issue of fast prepays on VA IRRRLs refuses to die. Recently, VA mailed a warning letter to as many as 500 lenders. Inside MBS & ABS obtained a copy of the correspondence.
MBS and MSR investor New Residential signaled that it might engage in a large stock buyback program, but so far there’s been no activity. It’s possible political considerations might be a factor.
Three names are being kicked around to head Ginnie Mae, the government’s $2 trillion MBS guarantor: Robert Couch, Clinton Jones and Joe Murin. But is something else afoot?
Some SWFs in other countries have extensive ownership interests in major corporations and sweep much of their profits into state coffers.
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