Inside Mortgage Finance

MBS, ABS Issuance

Browse articles from all of our Newsletters related to MBS, ABS Issuance.

May 18, 2012 - Inside The GSEs

FHFA Bank MBS Lawsuits Survive Dismissal Motion

Look for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to press its multiple legal actions against many of the nation’s biggest issuers of non-agency mortgage-backed securities after a federal judge rejected a bid by UBS Americas to turn back the FHFA’s lawsuit over its sale of non-agency MBS to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Judge Denise Cote, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, two weeks ago denied UBS’ motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds, while dismissing the FHFA’s negligent misrepresentation claims. The FHFA, as GSE conservator, sued UBS in July 2011 alleging that billions of dollars of MBS purchased by Fannie and Freddie were based on offering documents that contained “materially false statements and omissions.”

May 18, 2012 - Inside The GSEs

Fannie, Freddie Market Share Rises in 1Q12

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac held onto their ample shares of mortgage-backed securities with something of a bump during the first quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. The GSEs issued a combined $303.9 billion in MBS during the first quarter, a 13.9 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2011. Compared to the first quarter of last year, Fannie and Freddie saw a 16.4 percent increase in MBS issuance. Between the two companies, Fannie and Freddie registered a plentiful 77.9 percent share of new MBS during the period that ended March 31, 2012, up from 77.1 percent the two companies held during the fourth quarter of 2011 and much farther apart from the 74.8 percent both GSEs held during the first quarter of 2011.

May 18, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

MBS & ABS Issuance at a Glance

One page of issuance data.

May 18, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

SIFMA Concerned FINRA Proposal Could Harm Market Participant Confidentiality

A proposal from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to begin disseminating data for agency MBS traded as specified pools could compromise the confidentiality of market participants and discourage them from future participation, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The FINRA wants to implement shorter reporting timeframes for MBS-SP transactions (initially two hours, then one hour), as well as real-time dissemination of trade information. Volume information would be capped at $10 million. Trades above that amount would be displayed as “10+.” “Our dealer and...

May 11, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

Expert: Judge’s Refusal to Dismiss FHFA MBS Lawsuit Against UBS Leaves Other Defendants Open to Discovery

The massive legal action initiated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency last summer against many of the nation’s biggest lenders has survived its first legal challenge relatively unscathed following a federal judge’s rejection of the defendant’s motion to dismiss. Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last week denied UBS Americas’ motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds. The ruling permits the FHFA to proceed full steam ahead with its claim that UBS violated federal securities laws by misleading Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into purchasing $6.4...

May 11, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

Mortgage Bankers Push for Common MBS ‘Currency’ Making Fannie and Freddie MBS Interchangeable

The Mortgage Bankers Association is pushing a proposal to change the remittance schedule on Freddie Mac participation certificates and make them fully fungible with Fannie Mae pass-through MBS for good delivery under to-be-announced guidelines. The proposal would address the historical discount to Fannie MBS at which Freddie securities trade, said MBA President Dave Stevens during the group’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York this week. Freddie PCs typically trade 1 or 1.5 points behind Fannie MBS, a difference that Freddie Mac – and ultimately U.S. taxpayers, now that the government-sponsored...

May 4, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

MBS & ABS Issuance at a Glance

One page of issuance data.

May 4, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

Agency MBS Issuance Tumbled in April as Primary Market Refi Momentum Falters

New issuance of agency MBS declined sharply in April as refinance activity in the primary market began to slow down despite concerted efforts by many lenders to ramp up Home Affordable Refinance Program business. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking reveals that a total of $109.2 billion of single-family agency MBS was issued last month, down 29.2 percent from March. It was the lowest monthly output since October of last year, when the refi market started to gather momentum. The decline was all attributable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which pick up more refinance...(Includes one data chart)

April 27, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

MBS & ABS Issuance at a Glance

One page of issuance data.

April 27, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

SEC Approves FINRA Changes to Make TBA Deals More Transparent, Promote Fair Pricing of MBS

The Securities and Exchange Commission gave a thumbs-up last week to some changes to the rules governing the to-be-announced market proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to increase transparency in agency pass-through MBS transactions. The new changes will institute clear requirements for more timely reporting of two subsets of MBS TBA transactions – those that are “for good delivery” (GD) and those that are “not for good delivery” (NGD) – and include some information that has not been publicly disclosed before. The intent of the changes is to improve the ability of investors to...

April 27, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

HARP 2.0 Lenders Hold 125 LTV Loans While Awaiting Securitization Option

Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have begun buying the latest generation of Home Affordable Refinance Program mortgages with loan-to-value ratios exceeding 125 percent, a number of lenders are holding these loans in the pipeline until the government-sponsored enterprises open the spigot on securitization options for these loans. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie and Freddie purchased 1,548 of the high LTV HARP loans in February. FHFA Senior Associate Director Meg Burns said during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week that a similar volume of 125+ LTV loans were...

April 20, 2012 - Inside MBS & ABS

MBS & ABS Issuance at a Glance

One page of issuance data.

April 13, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Credit Suisse Issues Jumbo MBS, Credit Enhancement Questioned

A subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group issued a $741.94 million non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security at the end of March, the first jumbo issuance by a company other than Redwood Trust since 2008. CSMC Trust 2012-CIM1 included some unique characteristics prompting criticism from Fitch Ratings and speculation about whether Credit Suisse will issue more non-agency MBS. Standard & Poor’s and DBRS placed AAA ratings on the senior bond in the privately-placed deal based on 8.00 percent credit enhancement. Fitch – which was paid to provide feedback on the deal but ultimately was not selected to rate the deal – said the credit enhancement for the AAA tranche should have been 9.75 percent ...