A case in bankruptcy court regarding the priority of payment provisions for collateralized debt obligations could have broad ramifications for derivatives transactions at the heart of the structured finance industry, according to the Structured Finance Industry Group and other industry groups. In late December, SFIG filed an amicus brief in Lehman Brothers Special Financing v. Bank of America, which is being heard in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association filed a separate brief, making points similar to those raised by SFIG. LBSF is suing...

An industry advisory group formed to provide input on the development of the common securitization platform and single security for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to-be-announced MBS held its second meeting in December and addressed a wide range of industry concerns. A letter sent to the group by the Housing Policy Council raised questions about the timing of issuance of the single security, policy alignment between the two government-sponsored enterprises and the opportunities for public input and participation. The advisory group noted...

The prospects for consumer ABS in 2016 are a bit mixed. Auto ABS – especially subprime – appear susceptible to the Federal Reserve’s promised raising of interest rates this year and beyond, but credit card ABS are strong and performing well. “Rising interest rates could pressure U.S. auto ABS transactions, especially first on subprime deals,” analysts at Fitch Ratings said in a recent client note. While they expect last month’s initial rate increase by the Fed to have only a marginal near-term impact on borrowers, they said the plan to raise rates gradually over four years could increase the monthly debt burden on auto loan borrowers. “Although the rate increases are expected to affect the entire market, Fitch believes...

Then again, we also hear reports that the worst of the TRID mess will be over by the end of February…

Freddie managed a bigger annual increase over 2014 levels than Fannie did, thanks in part to its more active program in securitizing seasoned loans.

Among the key TRID issues identified: continued software glitches, systems issues and confusion among technology vendors...

Impac Mortgage is currently recruiting sales and operational personnel...

As for potential layoffs, the government-controlled mortgage giant declined to comment.

The IBM-owned Seterus has been buying mortgage servicing rights from Ocwen Financial...

New issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2015 despite a December rebound in monthly volume, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued $179.01 billion of single-family MBS during the final three months of 2015, a 19.9 percent drop from the third quarter. It was the weakest level of new business for the GSEs since the second quarter of 2014. A faltering purchase-mortgage market was...[Includes three data tables]