MBS and ABS investors would have an easier time organizing to press deal sponsors to address potential problems under a revised proposed rule on shelf registration that was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The agency made several major changes to its proposed overhaul of shelf eligibility requirements that was aired back in 2010 and put the revised package out for public comment. Most of the changes reflect public comment on the original proposal as well as the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. Under the latest proposal, MBS and ABS issuers would be required to ...

Residential mortgage lending fell sharply in the second quarter, sinking to levels not seen since the depth of the financial market meltdown in late 2008. Lenders originated an estimated $265.0 billion in 1-4 family mortgages during the second quarter, down 18.5 percent from the first three months of the year. Production barely topped the $260.0 billion in mortgage originations posted in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was the lowest quarterly out-put since early 2000. Third-quarter production appears to be ... [includes two data charts]

California continues to be the top source of new single-family mortgages for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even as Fannie remains the dominant GSE in terms of production through the first half of the year, according to an upcoming special report, GSE Market Profile: First Half 2011 by Inside Mortgage Finance Publications.

A coalition of six Federal Home Loan Banks has gone to court seeking formal standing as investors in the proposed $8.5 billion Bank of America settlement over mortgage-backed securities even as court papers reveal investors could be owed a sum three times greater than the current BofA proposal.The Federal Home Loan Banks of Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle together own certificates in 73 of the trusts that are part of the proposed settlement for which they paid more than $8.8 billion.

Hedging will become much more expensive for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks than for anyone else as proposed new rules on the margining of uncleared derivatives will significantly increase the cost of trading, the GSEs warned federal regulators.GSEs regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency weighed in via comment letters on the rules proposed in April by the FHFA, as well as the Federal Reserve, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Regulators of MBS markets should use a variety of tools to address inverse incentives in securitization, encourage markets to improve transparency and increase document standardization, according to a report released by the Joint Forum of the Bank for International Settlements. In its “Report on Securitization Incentives,” BIS said incentives in securities markets were misaligned in the crisis and still are today. “The major incentives at play for originators/sponsors included funding diversification, funding cost, risk transfer ...

Fannie Mae this week released a revised prospectus for its single-family MBS program that updates language on non-standard collection options such as biweekly payment plans, certain hybrid ARM pools and loan eligibility. The government-sponsored enterprise also expanded its discussion of representations and warranties provisions affecting its single-family MBS. In addition to requiring sellers to repurchase mortgages that breach the reps and warranties, Fannie said it is important for investors to consider that there are other mandatory and optional cases where loans may be ...

Regardless of whether the White House and Congress come to a debt ceiling deal before the fast approaching Aug. 2 deadline, agency MBS are in for a rough ride, experts say. Last week, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s lit a fire under the debt talks and sparked widespread consternation throughout the MBS arena when they announced that each may cut the U.S. credit rating two double-A within three months if there isn’t a “credible” agreement to address the U.S. debt burden. Consequently, Moody’s placed on review for possible downgrade ...

The House Financial Services Committee this week passed legislation repealing a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that increased the liability of credit rating agencies for ratings they provide on asset-backed securities offerings. H.R. 1539, the “Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act of 2011,” would restore Rule 436(g) is-sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which exempted nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, or NRSROs, from expert liability when they provide ratings for ...

A year old this week, the Dodd-Frank Act remains as controversial as the day it was signed into law as critics continue trying to water down its impact by cutting funding for its implementation. Before the financial crisis, regulators weren’t properly funded to do their jobs, said Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, during a hearing this week in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. While the Dodd-Frank Act “does cover a lot” of the gaps, “quality is more important than quantity,” he said. But if money continues to be cut, it will be severely ...