Merge Fannie and Freddie, says Mayor (Candidate) Bloomberg; Also: Amherst wants to buy Front Yard REIT.

Presale reports for 12 non-agency MBS backed by new originations have been published this month, led by seven expanded-credit products.

Strike while the iron’s hot: Mortgage REITs are raising cash by selling additional shares of common. How long can the trend last?

The SEC is facing pressure to address “ratings shopping” in the MBS and ABS markets. Big rating services are not keen to switch from the issuer-pays model.

The move from LIBOR to SOFR suffered a setback in December when financial institutions issued less than $4 billion in floating-rate notes tied to the new reference rate.

The coronavirus outbreak may strike little-known pandemic bonds issued by the World Bank in 2017. Travel restrictions in response to the outbreak may also impact ABS backed by aircraft leases.

The Structured Finance Association has brushed aside concerns that CLOs backed by leveraged loans pose a systemic risk to the economy.

The principal change in the proposed FHFA rule is to treat Ginnie mortgages differently from those of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Banks will no longer have to meet extensive disclosure requirements for their MBS deals to receive investor-friendly protections. The change was met with criticism from an Obama appointee to the FDIC’s board.

In efforts to move from LIBOR to SOFR, the GSEs informed market participants to expect new language on all single-family uniform adjustable-rate mortgage instruments that close on or after June 1.