The Federal Reserve has released action plans for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to correct deficiencies in the firms’ risk management procedures for third-party mortgage servicers. The plans were a requirement under enforcement actions issued by the Fed and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency between April 2011 and April 2012 against 16 mortgage servicers, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The servicers came under scrutiny for deficient servicing practices and foreclosure procedures, and later settled with the government. Morgan Stanley’s regulatory action plan supplements...
Real estate investment trusts that have been gobbling up MBS the past few years – and paying hefty dividends in the process – may have some more room to run, especially if interest rates remain relatively benign. “Given the tailwinds of lower prepayment speeds and Fed purchases, we believe that payout levels should remain stable in the near term,” said one veteran analyst who works for a top five bank. This analyst, who tracks several large REITs that invest in agency securities, added...
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has called upon federal financial institutions and consumer protection regulators to form an interagency working group to establish joint, uniform diversity standards for the financial services industry. The standards would implement a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act for consistent, uniform rules to assess the diversity policies and practices of financial institutions. The rules would also spell out criteria and procedures for determining whether a contractor or subcontractor has made a “good-faith effort” to include minorities and women in its workforce. Several of the agencies jointly proposed...
Fitch Ratings has consolidated a number of key rating drivers into updated master rating criteria for residential MBS backed by newly originated and seasoned residential mortgages. The latest report replaces the July 2013 RMBS criteria, and while no material changes have been made to the overarching process, a few tweaks have been made. The important rating drivers that were incorporated include...
So, you doubt our 2Q origination estimate? Here’s what an executive from a top-five warehouse bank told us: “We’re experiencing a significant pick up in outstandings."
A GSE reform bill filed late this week by a trio of House Democrats is less a last ditch effort to push their measure across the finish line this year than a bid to have the first word in next year’s debate over housing finance reform, note industry observers. The Partnership to Strengthen Homeownership Act, H.R. 5055, by Reps. John Delaney (MD), John Carney (DE), and Jim Himes (CT), follows through on their January draft proposal to seek a “middle ground” between the existing, politically untenable legislative proposals.
The rebound in new business at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the second quarter of 2014 was fueled by a hefty increase in purchase-mortgage activity, but it also featured clear shifts in the volume of loans coming from different kinds of lenders. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level data on mortgage-backed securities issued by the two government-sponsored enterprises shows that nonbank lenders continued to ... [Includes 3 data charts]
Walter Investment Management took steps last week to transition to a business model that requires less capital by funding Walter Capital Opportunity and completing an excess servicing spread sale with WCO. WCO is a real estate investment trust that Walter formed in November to hold mortgage servicing rights. Last week, WCO acquired 70 percent of the excess servicing spread from a pool of loans serviced by Green Tree Servicing ...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generated $141.8 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities during the second quarter of 2014, rebounding from the dismal first three months of the year, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. That was up 9.8 percent from the 14-year record low Fannie/Freddie MBS production of just $129.2 billion during the first quarter. However, the April-June cycle generated the second lowest quarterly volume since the end of 2008, and refinance volume continues to reach new lows – falling another 8.5 percent from the previous quarter.
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