A company that helped Ocwen Financial reduce the capital it needed for servicing non-agency mortgages was fined last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The federal regulator charged Home Loan Servicing Solutions for misstatements and inadequate internal controls. HLSS agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty to settle the charges while not admitting to or denying the findings. The SEC noted that William Erbey, Ocwen’s former executive chairman ...

The IRS approved Bank of America’s $8.5 billion settlement involving vintage non-agency mortgage-backed securities this week. The approval paves the way for investors to receive funds from a settlement that was announced in 2011. Mortgages play a role in a dispute between a former internal auditor at BofI Holding and the bank. Matt Erhart, the former auditor, filed a federal lawsuit this week with a wide range of allegations, including that BofI ... [Includes two briefs]

New issuance of residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS fell slightly during the third quarter of 2015, but the market remained well ahead of the pace set last year. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis shows a total of $396.99 billion of MBS and ABS were issued during the third quarter, down 6.1 percent from the previous quarter. That total does not include commercial MBS or multifamily securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. On a year-to-date basis, total MBS and ABS issuance was...[Includes two data tables]

A memo issued by the Internal Revenue Service this year regarding the tax treatment for certain real estate mortgage investment conduits has been a boon for investors in nonperforming loans, according to William Cejudo, a partner at the law firm of Clifford Chance. At the recent ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network in Miami, Cejudo provided some background on Technical Advice Memorandum 2015-17007, which was issued by the IRS in May. The memo covered a life insurance company’s formation of a REMIC that held impaired non-agency MBS. “It’s...

The recent ABS East conference prompted another round of introspection among participants in the non-agency mortgage-backed security market. While efforts to address concerns raised by potential investors are progressing, a multitude of issues continues to hamper non-agency MBS issuance. Issuers continue to focus on finding investors willing to buy AAA tranches of non-agency MBS. “Some of the AAA investors will come back when the pricing gets a little more ...

The inclusion of a deal agent or transaction manager in new non-agency mortgage-backed securities would significantly increase investors’ confidence in the sector, according to industry participants. Alessandro Pagani, a portfolio manager and head of securitized assets at Loomis Sayles, said a large number of institutional investors have pushed for a deal agent and the hope is that if non-agency MBS includes the feature, investors will buy into the deals ...

The planned $150 million non-agency mortgage-backed security from Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions and Nomura Securities might have been delayed due to issues involving representations and warranties, according to people familiar with the deal. The MBS was to be backed by nonprime non-qualified-mortgages and might be scrapped. Hudson City Savings Bank was hit with a consent order last week from the Consumer Financial Protection ... [Includes eight briefs]

The supply of residential MBS in the market grew tepidly in the second quarter of 2015, but not enough to increase the overall securitization rate for home mortgages. A total of $6.335 trillion of single-family MBS were outstanding at the end of June, a slim 0.1 percent increase from the previous quarter. The supply of MBS has been bouncing slightly higher and lower over the past six quarters, without gaining much traction. With total home mortgage debt outstanding climbing by 0.4 percent during the second quarter, the share of securitized loans fell...[Includes two data tables]

Nearly a year has passed since the Structured Finance Industry Group released documents relating to the RMBS 3.0 project and the leader of the Treasury Department’s non-agency reform efforts left the Treasury in May. However, at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami, industry participants noted that progress is being made on both initiatives. Panel sessions on reforming the non-agency mortgage-backed securities markets have been a staple at industry conferences since 2008, and some observers question whether much progress has been made. “I think...

The Common Securitization Platform currently under development for use by the government-sponsored enterprises has seen some twists and turns regarding potential use for non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Various officials working on the CSP stressed this week at the ABS East conference in Miami that the focus for the platform is activity by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The platform is adaptable, but our focus is on the enterprises,” said David Applegate, CEO of Common Securitization Solutions, the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac joint venture that is developing the CSP. At the conference produced by Information Management Network, he noted...