Issuance volumes in various MBS and ABS sectors are generally below pre-crisis levels and liquidity in the markets is adequate, according to an analysis by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. But the structured finance sector hasn’t flourished as the corporate bond market has in recent years, according to FINRA. The non-governmental regulator of broker-dealers based its analysis in part on data collected by its Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, which tracks trades in a variety of asset classes. The analysis was completed by FINRA’s Office of the Chief Economist. “Market liquidity [for MBS and ABS] seems...[Includes one data table]

Marketplace lender Social Finance – a mortgage originator with a track record in securitizing consumer and student loans – has filed for a state bank charter in Utah and is also pondering selling stock to the public. For now, the privately held technology-centric firm isn’t saying much about its plans, including the initial public offering. One source familiar with the company’s mortgage operation said SoFi recently hired one executive away from a larger player by dangling the IPO and stock options. To date, there has been...

The Trump administration wants to pare back regulations that inhibit the non-agency MBS and ABS market and tilt current securitization economics that favor the government-sponsored enterprises over private issuers. “In order to revitalize a responsible [private-label securities] market, it is important to improve incentives for issuers through reasonable reductions in costs and regulatory burdens,” the Treasury Department said in a new report released this week. In particular, it aimed at adjusting relative economics for the government-sponsored enterprises and FHA/VA mortgage programs. On the regulatory side, Treasury recommends...

Commercial banks and thrifts continued to have modest interest in holding non-mortgage ABS during the first quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. The banking industry held $123.43 billion of ABS in its held-to-maturity and available-for-sale investment portfolios at the end of March. That was down 0.3 percent from December. The overall supply of ABS outstanding, excluding collateralized debt obligations, fell...[Includes two data tables]

Four whole-business securitizations totaling $3.58 billion are in the works, according to presale reports, including a $900.0 million deal from Coinstar. The securitization from Coinstar received a preliminary BBB rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The company owns nearly 20,000 kiosks that count change located in grocery stores and other retail venues, mostly in the U.S. The company generates...

Recent remarks by Craig Phillips, counselor to the secretary of the Treasury Department, suggest that the Trump administration supports proposals to reduce regulatory burdens in the MBS and ABS markets. The agency is in the process of finding regulations that can be “clarified, modified or tailored” to help boost the housing market. “We believe it’s time to assess whether regulatory requirements have unnecessarily tightened the credit box for new originations,” Phillips said at a credit-risk transfer symposium in New York City. “Regulatory requirements have also contributed to increased cost in servicing. Capital and liquidity standards have put private-label securitization at a disadvantage.” The Structured Finance Industry Group noted...

President Trump’s tax plan would raise the federal debt, but could benefit residential MBS, consumer ABS and asset-backed commercial paper, depending mostly on the effect on the underlying obligors’ after-tax income, according to a recent research report from Moody’s Investors Service. “The administration’s blueprint proposes a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, which would also apply to partnerships and other ‘pass-through’ businesses that are currently taxed through their principals’ individual returns,” analysts explained. The White House plan also features...

Issuance of ABS backed by nonprime personal installment loans is expected to increase, according to S&P Global Ratings. The rating service hasn’t assigned AAA ratings to such ABS, though S&P said it will approach each deal on a case-by-case basis. Between 2013 and 2016, $10.50 billion of ABS backed by branch-based unsecured personal installment loans was issued, according to S&P. The rating service highlighted the sector recently, noting that personal installment loans don’t receive as much attention as marketplace lending, which had $15.10 billion in MBS and ABS issuance between 2013 and 2016. “Branch-based fixed-rate, fixed-term unsecured personal installment loans may not be...

Risk-retention requirements for MBS and ABS have been in effect for over a year, but industry participants are still grappling with how to comply with the standards, according to industry attorneys. Angela Ulum, a partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown, said industry practices and interpretations of the risk-retention requirements are starting to differ among different asset classes. During a webinar hosted by Mayer Brown last week, Ulum noted...

A lot of ABS issuers that sat out the final three months of 2016 came back to the market early this year, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. Some $53.38 billion of non-mortgage ABS were issued during the first quarter, a huge 55.9 percent jump from the previous three-month period. The market didn’t quite match the high point of last year, but issuance in the first three months of 2017 was up 23.1 percent from the same period in 2016. First-time issuers and those that didn’t issue in the fourth quarter accounted...[Includes two data tables]