Rating services are requiring higher credit enhancement levels and taking negative actions on outstanding deals due to problems stemming from the coronavirus. Fitch finalized new criteria for residential MBS late last week.

With overnight funding in the agency repo market hovering around 15 basis points and term repo rates a shade above the one-month LIBOR, yields for agency mREITs could edge upward, KBW analysts predict.

Ginnie Mae will soon start accepting electronic promissory notes and other digitized loan files as collateral for its MBS program.

Federal regulators have delayed their review of risk-retention requirements until next year. Also, most regulatory actions planned for MBS and ABS fall into the “long-term” category.

Under the CFPB proposal, which aims to establish a level playing field between the GSEs and the non-agency market, most loans will still be QMs, but there might be fewer incentives to sell the loans to the GSEs.

Demand for non-agency MBS has increased significantly in recent weeks after investors fled the market in late March and April. Issuance has been driven by somewhat seasoned non-qualified mortgages.

When the pandemic struck this spring, non-QM sales in progress fell apart involving some heavy hitters like NewRez. Now those loan buyers are getting sued for reneging on their contracts.

The two real estate investment trusts saw red ink in the first quarter as they were forced to sell assets when prices plummeted. MFA raised capital this week while AGMIT is considering its options.

An advisory panel has called for greater transparency around credit ratings. SEC officials say the reforms could be difficult to implement.

It’s increasingly possible the Federal Reserve will add jumbo MBS to the assets eligible for TALF, according to Structured Finance Association CEO Michael Bright.