The most active issuer of jumbo mortgage-backed securities in 2015, based on the number of deals sold, is set to issue the first jumbo MBS of the year. Two Harbors Investment is preparing a $304.75 million deal, according to presale reports. A presale report from Standard & Poor’s on the deal on Jan. 4 ended a span of 31 days without a presale report for a new jumbo MBS. Fitch Ratings published a presale report on the same deal the following day. The deal will mark the first ...

CORRECTION: A story in the Jan. 1, 2016, issue of Inside Nonconforming Markets regarding jumbo mortgage-backed security issuance as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 inadvertently omitted a $231.2 million jumbo MBS issued by Hatteras Financial in December. The online version of the story has been updated, including a revision to the companion data table. SoFi announced this week that it no longer considers credit scores ... [Includes four briefs]

In the end, 2015 produced a solid, if unspectacular, supply of new agency single-family MBS and non-mortgage ABS after peaking in the second quarter of the year. A total of $1.498 trillion of single-family MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued in 2015, a 28.1 percent increase from the year before, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. But 2014 ranked as the weakest year since the financial meltdown, and the 2015 output was the fourth lowest in the 21st century during a period of historically low interest rates and steady economic growth. Most components of the market slowed...[Includes three data tables]

The Department of Justice announced in December that a structured finance supervisor at RBS Securities pleaded guilty to participating in a multi-million dollar securities fraud scheme and is cooperating with the government’s ongoing investigation. Adam Siegel was co-head of U.S. ABS, MBS and commercial MBS trading at RBS between 2008 and 2014. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut said Siegel admitted that he and others conspired to increase RBS’s profits on trades of residential MBS and collateralized loan obligations at the expense of customers. “His crime included...

Exams by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2015 uncovered a number of problems at rating services large and small, according to a report released by the SEC at the end of December. However, the firms weren’t identified by name because the exams aren’t public. The report is a laundry list of findings involving the 10 nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, six of which are involved in the MBS and ABS markets. The findings came from exams that focused on activities in 2014. Offending rating services generally were referred to solely based on their size, with Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s referred to as “larger” rating services and the other companies referred to as “smaller” rating services. The SEC said...

A strong first half of 2015 helped the issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities top the volume seen in 2014, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. But as the year progressed, issuance slowed and industry analysts don’t expect much of an increase in volume in 2016. Some $12.08 billion in jumbo MBS were issued in 2015, up 25.4 percent compared with 2014 but not enough to match the $13.12 billion in 2013 issuance. And jumbo MBS activity ... [Includes one data chart]

Angel Oak Capital Advisors issued a nonprime mortgage-backed security on Dec. 17 tied to loans with an unpaid principal balance of $150.35 million. It was the fourth – and largest – nonprime MBS issued in 2015. Angel Oak Mortgage Trust 2015-1 included a $120.28 million senior tranche, a $15.04 million mezzanine tranche and two subordinate tranches totaling $15.04 million. The deal was issued by Angel Oak’s Greenleaf Income Trust II and was not rated. Officials at Angel Oak said ...

The government-sponsored enterprises’ risk-sharing transactions more adequately address incentive problems than non-agency mortgage-backed securities, according to a recent report by the Office of Financial Research. The OFR said back-end risk-sharing transactions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “indicate how private housing finance remains crippled.” The OFR is an independent office within the U.S. Treasury Department, focusing on financial stability issues. The GSEs sold ...

Risk-retention requirements established by the Dodd-Frank Act for certain non-agency mortgage-backed securities took effect at the end of 2015. Industry analysts suggest that the requirements will have minimal impact on industry participants’ current practices. “Risk-retention rules will not affect overall residential MBS issuance levels because qualified mortgage issuers will be exempt from risk-retention rules, and non-QM issuers already retain risk,” according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service ...

The omnibus appropriations bill President Obama signed in December included a provision that supporters suggest will help spur reform of the government-sponsored enterprises. The bill prohibits the Treasury Department from selling its senior preferred shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until at least the start of 2018. “Passage of this provision makes it clear that Congress – which created mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the first place – should ... [Includes three briefs]