The disclosure rule recently issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission aims to reduce reliance on credit ratings in the structured finance market, an issue that federal regulators have long grappled with. The SEC’s Regulation AB took effect in 2006, and it included a requirement that publicly offered securities have an investment-grade rating. The so-called Reg AB2 finalized by the SEC in August eliminates the rating requirement and instead sets a number of new requirements for publicly issued deals. Beginning in November 2015, the CEO of the depositor of publicly issued...

Ending the conservatorships of the government-sponsored enterprises and recapitalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the “most pragmatic and feasible” solution to facilitate housing finance reform and protect taxpayers, according to a recently issued white paper. In his blueprint for ending GSE conservatorship, Clifford Rossi – adjunct professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park – calls for an administrative solution by recapitalizing Fannie and Freddie and bringing the GSEs out of conservatorship under strict conditions as the next best way of implementing housing finance reform short of legislation. “Conservatorship was...

After a year of searching for a chief executive to head Common Securitization Solutions LLC, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is still looking. But that doesn’t mean the agency has given up. “The search continues,” said a government official close to the matter. “We even have a search firm.” Although the FHFA is keeping a tight lid on information regarding CSS, it’s...

Here's a fact that most readers may not know: the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 grants the FHFA the authority to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship.

A federal judge in New York has cleared the way for investors to proceed with a $10 billion class-action suit against JPMorgan in relation to the 2007 sale of non-agency MBS. Judge Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, however, limited the scope of the class-action suit to JPMorgan’s liability but did not certify as to damage. Explaining his decision to narrow the scope of the suit, Oetken said...

Supporters of using eminent domain to resolve underwater but performing non-agency mortgages succeeded in placing their proposal back on the front burner in California this week. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to convene in closed session later this month with the city attorney’s office for advice on “anticipated litigation relating to the potential negotiation or adoption of a joint powers agreement with the city of Richmond [CA] to establish a homeownership stabilization authority to assist homeowners with troubled mortgages.” The board opted...

Just when you thought the eminent domain story was dead, it's not.

MountainView is being careful not to have its maiden voyage in non-QM lending labeled as subprime.

Ocwen faces a dilemma. It has a gargantuan MSR portfolio but meager loan production. At some point, something has to give…

Some $3.05 billion in jumbo mortgage-backed securities were priced in the third quarter of 2014, nearly triple the volume seen in the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Issuance through three quarters is still below the level of jumbo MBS activity in 2013 but industry analysts suggest that the jumbo MBS market looks strong heading into the fourth quarter and beyond. Credit Suisse was the top issuer of jumbo MBS ... [Includes one data chart]