First Republic Bank has contributed at least 21.3 percent of the loans that have been included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities issued in the first nine months of this year, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The bank was identified as having contributed $2.18 billion into jumbo MBS issued in the first three quarters of 2015, including $619.19 million in the third quarter. First Republic’s contributions to jumbo MBS issued in the third quarter alone topped the contributions of any other lender in the first nine months of the year. Jumbo MBS issuers and rating services generally disclose...[Includes two data tables]

While a number of jumbo lenders reduced their reliance on mortgage brokers in the years after the financial crisis, Primary Capital Mortgage has sourced a large share of its production from brokers. And the lender has earned strong assessments from rating services in the process. Moody’s Investors Service said 71 percent of the jumbo mortgages PCM originated between the second quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 were through brokers. The lender originated $114 million in jumbos in that span. The majority of PCM’s originations are agency mortgages. The rating service said...

Returns on non-agency structured finance products declined in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to industry analysts. The shift appears to be due to macro issues as opposed to declining underwriting or performance. “The third quarter wasn’t a particularly happy quarter for non-agencies, with brakes on issuance and pullback in returns,” analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a new report. “The latter half of the third quarter was characterized...

In an about face, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is preparing to allow for the use of credit ratings as a gauge for credit risk when setting bank capital requirements. If the move isn’t adopted by U.S. regulators, industry participants suggest that domestic banks could be at a disadvantage. In a speech late last week, Stefan Ingves, chairman of the BCBS, acknowledged that the Basel committee’s December 2014 proposal to revise the standardized approach for credit risk wasn’t well received. “The response was both vigorous and clear: not many of you liked the proposals,” he said. Ingves said...

Fitch Ratings placed a negative outlook on a number of servicer ratings for Caliber Home Loans this week. The rating service said the revision from a stable outlook was due to “rapid growth and heightened regulatory scrutiny.” Caliber was the 19th-ranked servicer as of the end of the second quarter of 2015, according to affiliated publication Inside Mortgage Finance. The nonbank handled a $75.23 billion portfolio, which increased by 27.1 percent compared with ...

Pizza, hamburgers and doughnuts have helped fuel a record year for whole-business securitization. The deals, which gained some popularity among investors before the financial crisis, are backed by franchise royalty and license payments. Late last week, Standard & Poor’s assigned a preliminary BBB+ rating to the planned $1.63 billion Domino’s Pizza Master Issuer LLC 2015-1. The whole-business securitization will be backed by franchise royalty and license payments, Domino’s intellectual property, and profits from distribution arrangements. Earlier this year, Dunkin Brands issued...

Marketplace lending – otherwise known as peer-to-peer lending – is becoming more of a “thing” for institutional investors, hedge funds, venture capital firms, and even banks these days, but there are plenty of risks lurking in the bushes as well as other operational challenges, according to ratings service analysts. “While marketplace lending has enjoyed increasing growth and acceptance, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services believes a measured and cautious approach is warranted to properly evaluate this segment, which exhibits unique and heightened risks,” S&P credit analysts Ildiko Szilank and Timothy Bartl wrote in a new report. Among the risks they identified is...

“It’s amazing that we’re talking about this seven years after the financial crisis,” said Bob Behal, a principal and co-head of ABS/commercial MBS Investments at Vanguard Group, during this week’s ABS East conference in Miami. He was referring to the practice of rating shopping, which is a current practice, particularly in the commercial MBS market, according to a number of industry participants. A panel regarding reforms for the rating services and due diligence providers attracted a standing-room audience at the conference produced by Information Management Network. The conference was...

FHA jumbo securitization continued to rise over the first six months of 2015 on the back of soaring FHA jumbo production in the second quarter. FHA jumbo originations in the second quarter more than doubled to $6.8 billion, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. FHA data showed that the jumbo share of originations was highest in conventional-to-FHA refinance (14.9 percent) and streamlined FHA refis (13.3 percent,) but just 9.0 percent for purchase loans. Delivery of FHA jumbos, including modified loans, into Ginnie Mae jumbo mortgage-backed securities rose 131.9 percent in the second quarter from the prior quarter and was up 115.8 percent compared to the first six months of 2014. Wells Fargo led the market in the first half with $1.4 billion in jumbos contributed to MBS, up 123 percent quarter over quarter. That was good enough for a 12.7 percent market share. PennyMac Corp. accounted for ... [ chart ]

Ginnie Mae securitized fewer rural home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the previous quarter, according to analysis of agency data. A total of $8.4 billion of USDA loans were securitized during the first six months of 2015, down 2.1 percent from the same period last year. Securitization volume also dropped by as much quarter over quarter. Chase led all USDA securitizers with $2.6 billion in loans securitized during the first half of the year for a commanding 30.4 share of the market. Wells Fargo funneled $1.1 billion in USDA loans into Ginnie MBS, resulting in a 13.1 market share, while PennyMac delivered $609.7 million for securitization. U.S. Bank closed the first half with $260.3 million in securitized USDA mortgages despite a 31.4 percent drop in the second quarter. Pacific Union Financial rounded out the top five USDA loan securitizers with ... [ chart ]