The New York State Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 issued mixed rulings on two claims brought by a trustee against a seller and sponsor of three residential MBS trusts.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week issued its final rule on the uniform MBS, the single security that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will package and sell. Its success, though, may depend on the much-contested definition of the rule: What are “covered programs, policies or practices”?
Industry participants see promise in credit-risk transfer transactions beyond the government-sponsored enterprises, with possible markets developing involving Ginnie Mae, banks, credit cards and auto loans.
New production of agency single-family MBS fell for the sixth month in a row in Febru-ary, sinking to the lowest monthly output in nearly five years. [Includes two data charts.]
The average daily trading volume in agency MBS spiked northward in January, increasing 18.3% on a sequential basis, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
Even though Mark Calabria backtracked on a decade of controversial comments about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at his confirmation hearing last week, his nomination to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency came out of the Senate Banking Committee with a 13 to 12, strictly party-line vote.
The industry is considering adopting block-chain technology in structured finance for its purported advantages, but S&P Global Ratings has expressed concerns that the nascent nature of the technology may introduce new risks to securitizations.
Comprehensive housing-finance reform probably isn’t in the cards anytime soon, but a plan to overhaul the GSEs is, according to industry participants. It remains unclear, though, what changes will be accomplished and whether Congress will pass legislation or if the reforms will be completed via the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department.
RSS