The Structured Finance Industry Group this week put more flesh on the bones of its proposed deal-agent role in future non-agency MBS and introduced a plan for improved communications among MBS investors. The fifth edition of SFIG’s RMBS 3.0 Green Paper adds recommendations on data standardization, enforcement mechanisms for breaches of deal terms and materiality standards. The new proposal on bondholder communications was drafted...

Risk-sharing transactions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have delivered strong returns for investors in the past year, but that could change under the monetary policies of the Trump administration, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The analysts recently dialed down their recommendation on the risk-sharing transactions issued by the two government-sponsored enterprises to “underweight.” “Trump’s victory paves...

Analysts at Wells Fargo Securities worry that the post-election rate shock is not a positive omen for bank and overseas investors in MBS. “Since the U.S. presidential election, the 10-year yield has sold off by 55 basis points in a matter of two weeks,” they said in a recent client note. “Although banks and overseas investors are typically looking to buy on dips, large selloffs do not bode well for demand from these investors right after a rate shock. For banks, a large rate shock results in a hit on their regulatory capital.” According to their calculations, during the week ending Nov. 9, 2016, the net realized gains on bank portfolios declined...

Standards proposed by the Structured Finance Industry Group for disclosures of representations and warranties on new non-agency mortgage-backed securities are likely to put a burden on conduits and other aggregators that pool mortgages from scores of originators. The Wall Street group recently released the fourth edition of its RMBS 3.0 “green papers,” which aim to revive issuance of non-agency MBS by making reforms that will attract investors. The latest green paper focused on ...

Total FHA and VA originations increased during the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period last year, although VA was more active, posting a double-digit production increase, according to an analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Lenders delivered $201.0 billion of FHA loans to Ginnie single-family mortgage pools over the last three quarters, up 4.8 percent from the previous year. Approximately 65.4 percent and 29.3 percent of FHA loans securitized were purchase loans and refinances, respectively. The remainder was loan modifications. VA originations totaled $143.2 billion over the same period, up 22.3 percent from last year. Refinances accounted for 51.9 percent of volume and purchase loans comprised 47.0 percent. The share of FHA loans in agency mortgage-backed securities for the nine-month period was 19.5 percent and 13.9 percent for VA. FHA loans accounted for ...

The latest “Green Paper” from the Structured Finance Industry Group proposes that issuers of non-agency MBS improve transparency by comparing the representations and warranties on a new issuance with a set of benchmark reps and warrants. “A substantial population of investors have very clearly stated their collective belief that the current representation-and-warranty process is neither practically useful for its intended purpose, nor scalable,” according to the fourth SFIG Green Paper aimed at reviving the non-agency MBS market. Currently, non-agency MBS issuers provide...

American International Group is working to “rebalance its exposure to residential mortgages” after the company’s sale of United Guaranty, a private mortgage insurer. Douglas Dachille, an executive vice president and CIO at AIG, detailed a number of plans late last week in a presentation to investors. He said the insurance giant is structuring direct investments in residential and commercial mortgages and other whole loans. “The team is...

A U.S. district court judge in New York has certified a class of investors to move forward with mortgage-related fraud claims they have brought against three large banks. MBS investors led by plaintiff New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund sued units of Wells Fargo that were acquired from Wachovia Capital Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank that helped underwrite $7.7 billion of MBS issued by failed subprime lender NovaStar Mortgage. The plaintiffs accused...

Commercial banks and savings institutions boosted their holdings of residential MBS substantially during the third quarter, a new analysis of call-report data by Inside MBS & ABS reveals. Banks and thrifts held a record $1.732 trillion of residential MBS in their available-for-sale and held-to-maturity accounts at the end of September, a 2.9 percent increase from June, not including $46.3 billion in trading accounts. The emphasis was heavily on agency pass-through securities, with holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS surging 6.6 percent higher. Ginnie Mae saw...[Includes two data tables]

An affiliate of Verizon Communications will issue a $1.40 billion ABS backed by payment plans for cell phones, according to presale reports. It’s the second transaction of its kind from Verizon, with industry analysts projecting that issuance could increase due to widespread financing for cell phones and investor demands. Verizon Owner Trust 2016-2 received preliminary AAA ratings from Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. It’s larger than the $1.17 billion ABS Verizon issued in July and the senior tranche on the pending issuance includes slightly less credit enhancement, indicating increased comfort among rating services. The July issuance included...