Bank of America grew its MBS holdings by a stunning 22.7 percent in the third quarter, according to Inside MBS & ABS.

FINRA made some concessions to the industry in the proposal issued in October, but many MBS traders warned of dire consequences if the proposed margin requirements take effect.

Commercial banks and savings institutions held a record $1.608 trillion of single-family MBS in portfolio as of the end of the third quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call-report data. Banks and thrifts boosted their MBS holdings by 1.6 percent from the end of June, reaching a third consecutive record level. The gain pushed the industry’s market share of single-family MBS to an estimated 25.2 percent. Commercial banks were responsible for ... [Includes two data charts]

A proposal from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to establish margin requirements for the to-be-announced MBS market was met with strong opposition from industry participants. While FINRA made some concessions to the industry in the proposal issued in October, many MBS traders warned of dire consequences if the proposed margin requirements take effect. The proposal from FINRA included a number of provisions, such as a 2.0 percent “maintenance” margin ...

The second whole-loan securities risk-transfer transaction from Freddie Mac received a rating from Moody’s Investors Service. The rating service said the $634.64 million deal included a number of improvements compared with non-agency MBS, which have a similar structure. Much like non-agency MBS, the deal was backed by mortgages and included senior and subor-dinate tranches available for purchase by investors. The M1 tranche of FWLS 2015-SC02 ...

Mortgage real estate investments trusts might get more active in the credit risk transfer activity of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-CA, this week seemed to secure a commitment from Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White to help facilitate such greater involvement. “What we’ve been trying to do … is to take a strong interest in housing finance reform and see how we can move forward ...

Moreover, during the quarter, the REIT joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

After a seven-year hiatus, Silver Hill Funding this month re-entered the market for small-balance commercial mortgages, rolling out a menu catering to borrowers that are looking to buy multifamily properties, as well as office, retail, light industrial, self-storage and mixed use. Under its initial program, it will extend credit to both investors and owner-occupants ranging from $250,000 to $1 million as the nonbank attempts to serve a niche that it believes is ignored by ...

Last week, Wall Street groups and some Washington, DC, allies raised concerns that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) proposed standard will have potentially negative effects on U.S. securitized products. The proposal could hamper the recovery of the non-agency MBS market, the resolution of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the full restoration of mortgage credit availability ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency filed a motion last week to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders in Delaware this summer who argued that the Treasury sweep of the government-sponsored enterprises’ profits is illegal under state law. The complaint stated that with Fannie chartered under Delaware law and Freddie under Virginia’s jurisdiction, the preferred stock of a corporation cannot be given a cumulative dividend right equal to all the ...