A record 88.5 percent of the home mortgages originated during the first nine months of 2009 were ultimately financed through securitization, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. With significant changes in accounting now coming into play and Congress straining to change the underlying economics of the process, the U.S. housing market has never relied... [Includes one chart]
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Ginnie Mae securities are some of the safest pools of loans on the market, but the recent publicity about deterioration in the FHA insurance fund – which backstops about 80 percent of Ginnie issuance – has made some investors and analysts nervous about prepayments and performance. The annual audit of the FHA’s financial status showed that the program’s capital... [Includes one graph]
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The unprecedented government funds pumped into the financial market via the Troubled Asset Relief Program did not have the desired effect of cleaning toxic assets off of bank balance sheets, but they still have helped lessen the impact of the financial crisis, experts told the Congressional Oversight Panel last week. The use of TARP money to purchase troubled... [Includes one chart]
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As loan modification efforts continue to accelerate, the mortgage banking industry is pressing the Treasury Department for clarification of the tax treatment of modified loans to avoid any negative consequences for MBS investors as a result of granting relief to borrowers. Treasury Regulation 1.1001-3 generally provides that a modification of a loan’s terms is deemed a...
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The American Securitization Forum is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend a special rule that allows MBS and ABS issuers to make static pool data available on their Web sites rather than try to shoehorn it into the SEC’s EDGAR database.“Both issuer and investor members of the ASF continue to have a clear and strong preference for Web-based presentation...
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American Securitization Forum Executive Director George Miller late last week announced an abrupt departure from the organization he helped form in 2004 and has since led. “While I have decided to pursue other opportunities at this stage of my career, I firmly believe in the importance and value of securitization to our financial markets and broader economy, and intend to remain...
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The Federal Reserve added some $72.98 billion in agency MBS to its massive portfolio during the first half of November, lifting the U.S. government’s combined holdings of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securities to over $1.03 trillion. Exact figures won’t be available until the Treasury Department announces its November purchases and end-of-month holdings... [Includes one chart]
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