Industry representatives and policy wonks diverge in their opinions about whether federal financial regulators will put out a final rule or another proposed final rule as the next step in the long-delayed risk-retention rule for asset securitizers. The qualified residential mortgage designation – which would exempt non-agency MBS from the five percent risk-retention requirement – has been one of the biggest controversies. According to Politico, the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to hold up a final deal because its staff thinks a minimum downpayment requirement for QRM would better protect investors. Under the latest version of the rule, the QRM definition would be synched...

Congressional legislative action – something likely out of reach for at least the next two years – is either a part of the problem or the only solution to unraveling the final fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to two distinctly different schools of thought being argued this week. The rhetorical boxing match pitted Urban Institute Fellow Jim Parrott’s thesis that only a legislative fix by Congress can free the two government-sponsored enterprises from the status quo against Jim Millstein, CEO of Millstein & Co., who contends that the GSEs should emerge recapitalized from conservatorship forthwith, a feat that can and should be executed via “administrative reform.” Parrott fired...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s effort to go after corporate executives in connection with its financial-crisis enforcement actions so far has led to 12 cases in which individuals were named as defendants or respondents. Individuals who have been included in CFPB complaints are primarily decision-makers or a party to the consumer transaction. Under the law, they include not only providers of consumer financial products or services, but also those with managerial responsibilities and a “material” participant in the transaction. Individual accountability is...

The odds seem to be increasing that student loan servicers are going to face tougher legislation or regulation – or both – as members of Congress and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pay more attention to the sector. During a hearing this week of the Senate Banking Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-OH, drew a comparison between the mortgage market’s collapse and the resulting financial crisis and today’s student loan market – with an emphasis on the role of servicers in both contexts. Last year, Brown wrote...

A New York federal judge was out of line and beyond his discretionary authority when he rejected the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed $285 million settlement with Citigroup in 2011 stemming from the bank’s alleged mishandling of MBS, an appeals court ruled this week. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the district court’s order, holding that Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York abused his discretion by applying an incorrect legal standard to his review of the settlement. Rakoff refused to accept the deal between the SEC and Citi because it did not contain an admission or denial of guilt. The appeals court held...

One last thought on Mel Watt, FHFA and expanding the credit box: Members of the GOP who were big boosters of the recently departed Ed DeMarco will probably read the g-fee comment notice and have a fit…

Before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented standards for qualified mortgages, few lenders admitted that they were willing to offer non-QMs. However, in recent weeks, a number of lenders have touted their entrance into the sector, providing Ethos Lending with plenty of competition. Some of the non-QM lenders are sticking to relatively safe offerings of interest-only mortgages to well-qualified borrowers, while others see a strong market in non-QMs for borrowers that might not qualify for agency financing. This week, Caliber Home Loans announced...

Lenders that dabble in loans that don’t pass the qualified-mortgage test are going to be very selective about which borrowers they accept, and the loans are most likely to be held in portfolio, according to speakers at a recent industry conference in New York City. “We have used our balance sheet to retain non-QM loans in certain situations,” said Russell Brady, an assistant vice president at Elevations Credit Union. “This can make sense, but you have to do it in a controlled way with all the controls in place,” he said during a panel at the Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The QM limit of 43 percent on debt-to-income ratio is...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule is unlikely to prompt a significant increase in litigation, according to DBRS. The rating service last week released its criteria for non-agency MBS with loans subject to the ATR rule and standards for qualified mortgages. “Although there are no historical ATR claim data to help forecast the rate of borrower challenges, DBRS anticipates that any action against lenders within a securitization trust will be minimal due to the uncertainty of borrower success and significant legal costs that potentially can be incurred.” In addition, third-party due-diligence reviews that confirm ATR compliance and representations-and-warranties obligations that motivate lenders to adhere to underwriting guidelines make litigation less likely, the rating service said. DBRS added...

State regulators considering increasing capital requirements for nonbanks should hold off, according to an analysis by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. With encouragement from the Financial Stability Oversight Council, state regulators are considering prudential regulatory standards for nonbank mortgage companies. “We believe that large nonbank companies, and particularly seller/servicers in the mortgage sector, do not require formal capital requirements and other types of prudential regulation,” KBRA said in a report authored by Christopher Whalen, a senior managing director at the rating service. Nonbank servicers appear...