Marketplace lender Social Finance is contemplating a securitization of jumbo mortgages, according to industry officials who claim to have knowledge of the firm’s operations. The news comes amid an interesting time for the jumbo loan market: production volumes are generally strong and likely will be boosted even more by the recent decline in interest rates. But even established nonbank players have been avoiding the securitization route, opting instead to sell newly originated jumbos to commercial banks. SoFi, as the privately held company is known, has been placing...

A new fund has been created to encourage investments in the dwindling supply of single-family and multifamily affordable-housing options. Ten banks have contributed to the $25 million Community Development Fund since it opened in February. The fund will invest primarily in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies, and other investment grade fixed-income securities. In normal circumstances, the fund plans to invest at least 90 percent of its net assets in debt securities and other debt instruments that the fund’s advisor deems would qualify under the Community Reinvestment Act. Ken Thomas, president of Community Development Fund Advisors in Miami, set up...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw significant increases in the flow of both refinance loans and purchase-money mortgages during the second quarter of 2016, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. And for the first time in a long while, nonbank mortgage companies delivered over half of the single-family mortgages securitized by the two government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie and Freddie securitized...[Includes three data tables]

New issuance of U.S. residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS revved up significantly in the second quarter, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals. Based on the best available data, a total of $400.72 billion of new MBS and ABS were issued during the three-month period that ended June 30. That figure could edge slightly higher as more information about end-of-month activity becomes available. Second-quarter MBS and ABS issuance was...[Includes one data table]

At the recent invitation-only Ginnie Mae “liquidity summit” in Washington, DC, some of the nation’s top regulators – including one from the Federal Reserve – expressed their concerns about the growing market share of nonbank issuers and servicers. The focus, as might be expected, centered on the capital position of nonbanks, which pales in comparison to depositories. As one attendee told Inside MBS & ABS: “It was all about bashing the nonbanks.” This attendee, who spoke under the condition his name not be used, said...

Fitch Ratings published updated criteria this week for rating residential MBS. The new criteria include adjustments to due diligence grades relating to the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosure rule and evaluations of firms serving as a deal agent. Fitch said the new criteria include a “realignment” of items that prompt C grades and D grades on mortgages reviewed by third-party due diligence firms. The changes incorporate the Structured Finance Industry Group’s recently issued RMBS 3.0 TRID Compliance Review. The rating service acknowledged...

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent $12.7 million settlement with First Mortgage Corp. and several of its top executives over an allegedly fraudulent sale of toxic MBS to investors reveals the agency’s hidden role as a regulator of Ginnie Mae issuers, attorneys at Mayer Brown warned. Though seldom in the news, the SEC continues to bring enforcement actions against public companies that commit fraud involving Ginnie MBS, as seen in the FMC case, and previous enforcement actions against Taylor Bean & Whitaker and Radius Capital, the attorneys noted in a recent analysis. When bringing these cases, the SEC seeks...

Upgrades of ratings on structured finance products hit an all-time high in 2015, according to a study released this week by S&P Global Ratings. The study tracked ratings across sectors and the world, while the U.S. residential MBS sector showed mixed performance. S&P said it had 30,359 ratings outstanding on global structured finance securities at the beginning of 2015. During the year, 9.8 percent of the ratings were upgraded. The rating service said upgrades in 2015 were most prevalent on structured credit deals in Europe and the U.S. Some 11.2 percent of S&P’s ratings were downgraded...

The nonprime mortgage-backed security issued last week by Lone Star Funds could spur an increase in MBS backed by non-qualified mortgages, industry analysts say. The $161.71 million COLT 2016-1 Mortgage Loan Trust was the first MBS backed by non-QMs to receive a rating. Some 51.8 percent of the mortgages in the deal were non-QMs. All of the mortgages were originated by Lone Star’s Caliber Home Loans. The A-1 tranche of the MBS priced at spread of ...

New criteria from Fitch Ratings for rating non-agency mortgage-backed securities include provisions regarding due diligence grades and the deal agent position planned by some issuers. The criteria published this week include a “realignment” of items that result in C grades and D grades on mortgages reviewed by third-party due diligence firms. The changes include reviews for compliance with the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ...