Version 2.0 of Sen. Chris Dodd’s controversial regulatory reform legislation included modest changes in new securitization rules that have drawn criticism from several industry groups. The revised proposal, released this week after months of mostly inconclusive bipartisan negotiations, still faces significant political hurdles and intense lobbying on all sides. The major concession on...
Read More
The Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury have become the largest investors in U.S. residential mortgage securities in the world, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. The two agencies held $1.218 trillion of MBS as of the middle of this month, representing over 17 percent of the total supply in the market. Treasury has already ended its acquisition program... [Includes one chart]
Read More
The mortgage market is about to lose two crutches that have helped it amble haltingly along toward a recovery, and that is probably going to contribute to higher losses on distressed mortgage-related securities going forward, according to a number of industry observers. “Low mortgage rates, homebuyer tax credits and government-directed loan-modification programs have...
Read More
The government-sponsored enterprises continued to account for a disproportionate share of loan modification activity under the Home Affordable Modification Program. Loans serviced for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for a hefty 57.0 percent of all HAMP trials and permanent restructurings through the first six months of the program... [Includes one chart]
Read More
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. late last week extended its securitization safe harbor for new MBS and ABS issued through Sept. 30, 2010, while indicating it will move ahead with its controversial original proposal in spite of opposition from Wall Street and mortgage lenders. “Today’s action will provide continued protection for securitizations under the existing safe...
Read More
Although the Congressional calendar is already starting to tighten, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ, on Thursday introduced the United States Covered Bond Act, legislation that aims to help facilitate a robust covered bonds market to add more liquidity and certainty to the nation’s capital markets. “As the U.S. continues to recover from the financial crisis, it is essential that Congress examines...
Read More