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.

The surge in CRT debt issuance came during a time when new MBS production for the GSEs sank by 19.3 percent.

“We’re partnering with external firms to understand and anticipate their needs,” said Freddie Mac official Kevin Palmer…

Although some conventional lenders are struggling with lower volumes, Angel Oak and Citadel Servicing Corp. are humming along...

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 ...

Issuers of non-agency mortgage-backed securities continued to bring a variety of deals in May. JPMorgan Chase and Redwood Trust are set to issue separate prime non-agency MBS and nonprime MBS is on the way from Deephaven Mortgage and Lone Star Funds. Both Chase and Redwood continue to include mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises in their issuance. Such loans will account for essentially half of the $650.5 million issuance ...

The Structured Finance Industry Group is developing best practices for servicing fees that are passed through to non-agency mortgage-backed securities. As part of the effort, the industry group is seeking examples of servicing fees that have been disputed. The non-qualified mortgage share of originations by banks increased slightly in 2017, according to a survey by the American Bankers Association. Some 10.0 percent of bank originations in 2017 ... [Includes five briefs]