CRT transactions from Western Alliance Bank and Pacific Western Bank face scrutiny amid bank failures; impairments on unsecured consumer loans in ABS decline; Credit Suisse and what’s to come.

FDIC monitoring commercial MBS performance; MISMO to update ASF data standards; ACC subprime auto ABS servicing update.

Governance and social risks are the main ESG factors that affect credit ratings of MBS and ABS, while environmental relevance remains low, according to Fitch Ratings.

The cocktail of recessionary risk and inflation is putting pressure on the performance of MBS and ABS. Some sectors will perform better than others.

Initial estimates on Hurricane Ian-related losses; Biden administration limits student loan forgiveness on loans in ABS; Credit Suisse’s financial difficulties trickle down to an ABS.

Delinquencies on expanded-credit MBS are increasing but investors in the deals appear to be protected at the moment. A review of the sector by Fitch prompted many upgrades and no downgrades.

A study by the European Central Bank found evidence that rating services respond to their competitive environments by either inflating ratings or altering the strictness of their rating standards.

Moody’s increased its ratings of newly issued ABS by 36% during the first quarter, a period when total rated issuance was up 8%. Kroll remained the top rating service in non-agency MBS. (Includes two data charts.)

Moody’s proposed establishing ESG “issuer profile scores” and “credit impact scores” for structured finance transactions rated by the firm. DBRS, too, has released its approach to ESG risk factors in credit ratings.

Non-agency MBS with mortgages originated by CDFIs faces scrutiny from rating services; The Change Company pushes back; MBS and ABS investor preferences on credit scoring models.