As of July 21, 2014, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is now four years old and the CFPB three, after imposing more than $21 billion in costs and 60.7 million paperwork burden hours, according to a new study by American Action Forum, which identifies itself as a center-right policy institute. “As time passes, the law becomes more expensive as regulatory agencies like the CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency grow with the mission to implement burdensome rules,” the report said. “Meanwhile, small financial services firms continue to struggle as the law restricts the availability of financial products. With about one-quarter of the law still left to implement, one can only expect the costs to continue ...
Bureau Moves to Ensure Equal Treatment for Same-Sex Marrieds. The CFPB is synchronizing its internal policies with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, striking down as unconstitutional Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which holds that the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman. According to a staff memorandum from CFPB Director Richard Cordray, the CFPB will regard a person who is married under the laws of any jurisdiction to be married nationwide for purposes of the federal statutes and regulations under the bureau’s jurisdiction regardless of the person’s place of residency. However, consistent with other federal regulatory agencies, the bureau will not regard persons who are joined ...
Over five years, Fannie and Freddie would be wound down, but would be allowed to be sold and recapitalized as private entities with different business plans.
The modest rebound in non-agency MBS issuance during the first three months of 2014 fizzled during the second quarter of the year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. A total of just $1.60 billion of non-agency MBS were issued during the second quarter, a 62.7 percent decline from the previous period. It was the lowest quarterly volume in new issuance since the financial crisis of 2008. On a year-to-date basis, new issuance was...
Re-securitization activity is above levels seen last year because of compressed yields on vintage non-agency MBS, according to industry analysts. Re-securitizations – all of which are privately placed and typically without a rating – can offer investors more credit risk and leverage than vintage non-agency MBS. In the first half of 2014, 20 re-securitizations of real estate mortgage investment conduits totaling $5.90 billion were issued, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Activity is picking up: June alone accounted for 28.3 percent of the issuance. “In an environment where yields have compressed in the vintage non-agency space, subordinate re-REMIC classes can offer...
The line of companies rolling out new loan menus for non-qualified mortgages is growing longer each week, but it remains to be seen which firm will be the first to issue a non-agency MBS. Citadel Servicing Corp., Irvine, CA, is working on a bond, but has been noncommittal about when it might come to market – and whether its first deal will be public or private. The privately-held nonbank is now funding more than $15 million a month in non-QM/nonprime products. Meanwhile, Impac Mortgage Holdings – an Alt A lender of yesteryear – has just entered...
As the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to consider how to reform the rating process for structured finance transactions, including non-agency MBS, industry analysts affiliated with the Brookings Institution suggested that the fix doesn’t require altering the issuer-pay model that has been in place for more than 40 years. Instead, the SEC should help establish transparent, numerical benchmarks, according to two industry participants, shifting away from the current system of letter-based ratings that are also used for corporate debt and sovereign debt. Ann Rutledge, a founding principal at R&R Consulting, a credit rating service, and Robert Litan, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, detailed their proposal in an economic study recently published by Brookings. “Securities that are rated only in an ordinal fashion – in order of likelihood of default – can be...
After hearing from some market participants about certain unintended consequences, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority decided to revise its earlier proposal to establish margin requirements for to-be-announced transactions to accommodate smaller players in the market. Last week, its board authorized FINRA to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission the revised amendments to FINRA Rule 4210 (Margin Requirements) to establish margin requirements for TBA transactions (including adjustable-rate mortgage transactions), specified pool transactions, and transactions in collateralized mortgage obligations, with forward settlement dates. The proposal is...
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