Potential investors in non-agency MBS are calling for significant changes to the market before they’re willing to resume investing in new non-agency MBS. Non-agency MBS issuers indicate that they are willing to make some changes to attract investors, while other adjustments will require action by federal regulators or Congress. In June, the Treasury Department requested comments on how to increase non-agency activity and decrease the agency MBS share of mortgage financing. The comment period closed late last week, with about 25 industry participants submitting feedback. John Gidman, president of the Association of Institutional Investors, said...

MBS investors have been enjoying a nice little rally of late thanks to what analysts call “geopolitical” concerns, namely the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. But how much further will bond prices rise and rates fall? It all depends on whom you ask. “We’ll see 2 percent on the long bond before 3 percent,” said Christopher Whalen, senior managing director of Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Over the past few weeks, MBS prices – based on the Fannie Mae 3.5 percent coupon – have neared...

Investor demand for re-performing loans has been so strong in recent months that some firms are sitting on the sidelines as yields have become unattractive. Re-performing loans are being sold both as whole loans and in non-agency MBS, largely without ratings. William Gorin, director and CEO of MFA Financial, said the real estate investment trust has been investing in unrated non-agency MBS backed by re-performing loans that were originated between 2005 and 2007. “The average credit support is...

Though mortgage securitizers, issuers, lenders and servicers support a proposal to consolidate Ginnie Mae’s two MBS program into a single security, certain specific issues appeared to divide them. In a recent joint letter to Ginnie Mae, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Mortgage Bankers Association said many of their members agree on a number of the issues raised by the proposal, but in some cases disagree on the solutions. “It is clear that further discussion is warranted, and direct engagement with key stakeholders should be beneficial,” the trade groups suggested. Both industry groups were responding...

Trustee responsibilities, the role of the government-sponsored enterprises, deal documentation, loan-level disclosures, servicing, ratings, assignee liability, regulatory uncertainty, lien priority, bondholder communication and incentives for banks. These are just a few of the issues that need to be addressed for non-agency MBS issuance to resume in a meaningful manner, according to industry participants. About 25 comment letters were submitted after a request from the Treasury ...

The Structured Finance Industry Group has proposed investor-friendly standards for non-agency mortgage-backed securities in an effort to increase activity in the sector. The first “green paper” on Project RMBS 3.0 focuses on representations and warranties, triggers for independent reviews and disclosure of underwriting guidelines. “The goal here is to produce a proposal for standards that we would hope the industry adopts,” said Richard Johns, SFIG’s executive director ...

Morgan Stanley was set to issue its first jumbo mortgage-backed security since the financial crisis this week. The $256.48 million deal differs from most jumbo MBS issued in recent years in that all the loans were sourced from one lender, and they’re all adjustable-rate mortgages, including a fair number of interest-only loans. Morgan Stanley Residential Mortgage Loan Trust 2014-1 was scheduled to close Aug. 15. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s gave the deal ...

Moody’s Investors Service this week announced a proposed update to its rating criteria for jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Under the proposed criteria, collateral modeling will be based on a new version of Moody’s Individual Loan Analysis tool as opposed to the portfolio analysis tool Moody’s has used since 2008. Navneet Agarwal, a managing director at Moody’s, said the proposed changes set “a new standard for transparency” ... [Includes six briefs]

Two industry trade groups expressed support for consolidating Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities program and creating a new MBS but they are at loggerheads on some of the details. Commenting on the Ginnie Mae proposal, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said the disagreements are mostly on how to resolve issues related to winding down the Ginnie Mae I MBS program and providing a conversion option for existing securities. “It is clear that further discussion is warranted, and direct engagement with key stakeholders should be beneficial,” the trade groups suggested. Ginnie Mae has received considerable support from a variety of industry players for its “straw man” proposal to shift to a single MBS program based on the existing Ginnie II. The program now accounts for more than 90 percent of all ...

A number of mortgage finance industry groups have expressed concern about how the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule is interfering with the return of private investor capital back into the sector – mostly because of the rule’s assignee liability provisions. The industry comments came in response to a request from the Treasury Department in June for suggestions to encourage private capital to return to the non-agency mortgage-backed securities space. The Association of Institutional Investors said the ATR rule’s assignee liability provision “unfairly punishes investors who have nothing to do with the origination of loans and oftentimes have limited insight into the origination practices.” The assignee liability provision therefore introduces a risk that is almost impossible to price for those not directly involved in ...