The red-hot vehicle ABS market saw intense competition between S&P and Fitch for ratings supremacy. Kroll rode the resurgent ECM MBS market to boost its share of rated issuance. (Includes two data tables.)

Hildene Capital Management formed a “strategic relationship” with CrossCountry Mortgage in late 2022, with the lender delivering non-QMs to the asset manager for securitization.

With mortgage rates declining of late, sellers of non-QM collateral might see better prices in the secondary market. Then again, the optimism may be too early, one trader advised.

Securitization tied to financing acquisitions of MSRs dwindled in the past year, but banks are still providing financing to nonbank MSR buyers through loans.

The new issuance from Balbec Capital received a preliminary AAA rating with somewhat higher credit enhancement than a typical expanded-credit MBS. It’s the second scratch-and-dent MBS from Balbec this year.

The change in course was fueled by mounting pressure from industry participants and members of Congress, among other stakeholders.

When times turn tough, some mortgage REITs start cutting the dividends they pay shareholders, but not all. Meanwhile, book values are getting slammed. A time to buy these equities or sit on the sidelines?

A 25-member bipartisan House group has called on the SEC to revise its proposed rule on conflicts of interest in the securitization market. The lawmakers said the SEC, in making the rule, went well beyond what was required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Redwood Trust has increased its partnerships with banks as it expands its jumbo mortgage acquisitions in the third quarter.

Attendance at the ABS East conference hit a record this week even as industry participants are anticipating a recession. Parts of the ABS market are offering investors better returns than corporate debt.