Commercial banks and thrifts shuffled their MBS holdings during the second quarter but ended the period with essentially the same total investment in the market that they had in the previous period, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call report data. Banks and thrifts held... [Includes two data charts]
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Although many in the mortgage finance industry are backing proposals to retain, or even expand, the government’s explicit backing of certain MBS, Obama administration officials say the concept needs a lot more thought to avoid potential problems. “Recently there has been a growing call for...
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While single-tranche securitizations of pools consisting solely of “qualified residential mortgages” are excluded from the risk-retention requirements under the new regulatory reform law, it may take a federal rulemaking to exempt FHA, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans from...
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Standard & Poor’s will only assign confidential ratings for issuers’ own internal use, effectively placing the information outside the scope of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rule 17g-5 and restricting third-party access. The new policy became effective for confidential ratings issued on or after Sept. 7 and does not affect...
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The growing number of modified mortgage loans reissued into new, lower coupon pools and high recidivism rates on modified FHA and VA loans have prompted securities analysts to warn potential investors away from lower coupon Ginnie Mae IOs. The massive amount of buyouts from Ginnie Mae pools seen over the last 6 to 12 months are being...
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Legislation to create a detailed regulatory framework for covered bonds in the U.S. sailed through a key House committee in August with strong bipartisan support, but the outlook in the Senate remains unclear and may hinge on getting support from financial regulators. With a record of success in Europe to draw upon, covered bonds have a lot of...
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As the mortgage environment continues to change even two years after the mortgage crisis, Barclays Capital has updated its prepayment model to accommodate the slow refinance market, ultimately slowing down prepayments on higher coupons. Generally speaking, a prepayment model is a means of...
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