The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should not take enforcement action against securitization trusts for the acts of servicers, the Structured Finance Industry Group said.

Non-agency MBS traders defeated charges brought by the federal government in two separate cases late last week. In one case, a judge ruled that a lower court erred by admitting evidence against the trader; in the other, a jury determined that bluffing by a trader didn’t warrant a conviction.

The Seventh Circuit Court shot down the chances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders reviving their Treasury sweep claims last week. Investors Christopher Roberts and Thomas Fischer argued that the preferred stock purchase agreement was illegal and robbed shareholders of their profits.

A handful of nonbanks are preparing to enter the non-agency MBS market as issuers of deals backed by non-qualified mortgages. Investor demand for the products remains strong, prompting interest from new entrants.

Most real estate investment trusts that specialize in the agency MBS market allowed their portfolios to decline slightly in the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes one data chart.]

Most mortgage lenders have been primed to focus on the home-purchase market and there is plenty of borrower demand, but housing supply remains a sticking point.

A top official at Arch Capital defended Freddie Mac’s new Integrated Mortgage Insurance (IMAGIN) credit-risk transfer program against charges that it creates an unlevel playing field.

Federal regulators broke with tradition this week and released annual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data roughly four months earlier than they have in the past.

Margins in the correspondent channel took a hit in the first quarter, according to officials at a number of large lenders. Some nonbanks with significant servicing portfolios are expecting profits to shift to the servicing segment as interest rates increase.

The nation’s warehouse providers ended the first quarter with $63.0 billion of commitments on their books, a slight decline from yearend and a gain compared to March 2017, but the numbers mask some of the pain being felt in the sector. [Includes one data chart.]