The average daily trading volume in agency MBS climbed to $215.9 billion in May, the highest reading of the year, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. But don’t get too excited. May’s activity is still below the two-year high established in January 2015 and nowhere near the peaks established back in 2008 when crumbling financial markets caused investors to go gaga for agency MBS. The relatively low daily trading volumes continue...

A partisan debate is brewing in the Senate over whether a more complex regulatory system could actually lead to increased systemic risk for U.S. banks even as House Republicans weigh proposals to eliminate financial and consumer protections under the Dodd-Frank Act. Discussions in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs this week revolved around the Basel and Dodd-Frank capital and liquidity requirements and whether they are forcing big and small banks to focus more on safety and soundness instead of meeting the needs of consumers and the economy. Post-crisis financial regulations have become...

The weighted average loan loss severity for U.S. commercial MBS was 49.3 percent for the 139 loans liquidated in the first three months of 2016, versus 58.2 percent for 240 loans liquidated in the last three months of 2015, which was the highest quarterly loss severity since 2010, Moody’s Investors Service said in a new quarterly report. However, “In both quarters, severities topped the weighted average of 42.8 percent for loans liquidated between Jan. 1, 2000, and March 31, 2016,” the ratings service added. The Moody’s report tracks...

In anticipation of plans to securitize loans that had been previously delinquent, this week Fannie Mae announced that it will release historical data on some 700,000 re-performing loans. The release, scheduled for July, will include updated credit scores and loan-to-value ratios at issuance. This coincides with Fannie’s efforts to become more transparent and give the market the ability to analyze how these re-performing loans, or RPLs, have performed over ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit-risk transfer transactions have evolved since they were introduced in late 2012, according to a recent report by DBRS. The rating service analyzed Fannie’s Connecticut Avenue Securities and Freddie’s Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions and concluded that they have performed well with low delinquencies. DBRS attributed the strong performance to “prudent underwriting, the GSEs’ solid seller and servicer approval process and ...

The deal is the first post-crisis nonprime MBS to receive a credit rating and it will be the largest post-crisis nonprime MBS issued to date.

Another bank seeing a pickup in clients is Southwest Bank, Dallas…

However, Fitch did raise concerns about the expenses associated with Pentalpha Surveillance, which will review potential breaches of representations and warranties…

The Lone Star bond could also receive credit ratings, which would be a first for a nonprime MBS backed by new originations in the post-crisis era...

JPMorgan Chase may not like FHA loans very much, but it certainly has a strong appetite for jumbos, hence the huge growth in its retained portfolio...