Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t act like two companies in their 10th year of government conservatorship, waiting for federal policymakers to figure out what to do with them.
The tailored Dodd-Frank reform bill signed into law by President Trump this month should be a boon to investors in Ginnie Mae securities because it will reduce loan churning, but there could be some bumps along the road until all the details are ironed out.
The Structured Finance Industry Group continues to work on getting MBS and ABS classified as “high quality liquid assets.” The industry group has renewed hope for the ongoing effort due to the recent passage of regulatory relief in Congress.
In what is largely an intellectual exercise, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said last week that the agency will propose a new risk-based capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even though it won’t apply while they’re in conservatorship.
A subsidiary of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings is set to issue an ABS backed by cash flows from private-equity funds. The deal, which will include tranches in Singapore dollars and U.S. dollars, received preliminary A- ratings.
A Washington state appeals court recently upheld a lower court decision to dismiss non-agency MBS claims filed by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle against RBS Securities, Inc.
Ellington Financial wants to speed up its issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities but competition for non-qualified mortgages is getting in the way. Ellington issued its first MBS backed by non-QMs in November. All of the mortgages in the $141.2 million deal were originated by LendSure. Ellington has an equity investment in the lender. Laurence Penn, president and CEO of Ellington, said the firm is preparing to issue another non-agency MBS and the nonbank would prefer to ...