A new study found that an increase in days over 90 degrees has a statistically significant impact on mortgage defaults and prepayments, both of which affect yields on MBS.

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners defended NAIC’s plan to allow state insurance commissioners to overrule the ratings assigned to MBS and ABS held by insurance companies.

Money-market and mutual funds continued to invest heavily in the MBS market during the second quarter. Some of the burden may shift to foreign investors, experts suggest. (Includes two data charts.)

SFA published best practices for ESG disclosures for residential MBS and auto ABS. The association is starting with a limited number of disclosures and plans to expand the effort.

Larger banks say federal regulators’ proposal to increase capital requirements is more stringent than international standards and came with insufficient explanations.

The Structured Finance Association continues to push forward on revising the disclosures used with non-agency MBS. The revisions could lead to major changes in industry practices.

The increase in activity can be attributed to higher interest rates and liquidity concerns.

The proposed capital standards were cited as one of the reasons by S&P for its decision this week to lower ratings of five regional bank.

The Obama-era task force set up to investigate MBS fraud that contributed to the 2008 crisis has finished its job. Its efforts led the DOJ to collect $36 billion in penalties from banks, originators and rating agencies.

Non-qualified mortgage lenders are increasingly opting for whole-loan sales given the demand from insurance companies, among others.