This week’s ABS East conference had to be relocated to a different hotel convention center because the first choice, in Miami Beach, was still under renovation. The same can be said of the ABS industry itself. Information Management Network drew about 1,000 securitization professionals to its annual meeting in Hollywood, FL, held this week in the midst of an historic seizure in world...
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It’s going to take a lot more than a massive infusion of government support and a turnaround in the U.S. housing market to get the non-agency MBS market back on its feet, according to industry experts who see fundamental changes in how the business operates. In addition to the massive de-leveraging that’s taking place across the financial landscape, the U.S. government is expected to...
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Mortgage servicers are panting to keep up with a growing backlog of defaulted mortgages, often forcing MBS investors to make concessions that are less painful than the losses they might suffer if the servicer goes under. Servicer staff levels are about the same as they were a year ago but their workload has increased dramatically, and many companies are seeing a deterioration in...
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In what seems to supporters as a logical and cost-effective move, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have apparently been directed to bid to manage the mortgage-related assets acquired under the federal government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But other potential bidders are complaining that turning over the mortgage components of the TARP to the government-sponsored...
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Credit rating services have been battered for months over their role in the collapse of the MBS market, but the heat grew more intense this week on Capitol Hill as company executives had to explain incriminating internal documents that portrayed a cynical focus on earnings over accuracy. “The story of the credit rating agencies is a story of colossal failure,” said Rep. Henry...
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The mortgage and MBS industry is being swamped with a new wave of regulation that includes an intense focus on loss mitigation and foreclosure avoidance. It’s going to have a huge impact on the companies that survive the housing crisis, according to regulators speaking at this week’s ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network. Major legislation enacted this year...
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The securities industry is optimistic that confidence will return to the MBS market as regulatory and legislative changes in the past couple of weeks take hold. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee this week on financial regulatory restructuring, Timothy Ryan, president/CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said that without...
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Commercial banks held a record $110.03 billion of non-mortgage ABS on their books as of the end of June, representing a hefty gain of 18 percent from the previous quarter. Banks ended 2007 with $83.95 billion of ABS investments. Based on call reports from the top bank ABS investors... [Includes one chart and one graph]
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