The average daily trading volume in agency MBS totaled $195.7 billion in April, the lowest reading of the year and third worst over the past 12 months, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The low trading volume is an indication that liquidity is drying up, but it also reflects a decline in new agency MBS being created. According to figures recently compiled by Inside MBS & ABS, lenders issued...

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...

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week charged two former head traders who ran the commercial MBS desk at Nomura Securities International with lying intentionally to customers to boost the profits of the firm as well as their commissions. The SEC complaint alleged that traders James Im and Kee Chan inflated the price on CMBS they bought and sold for customers on the secondary market. In certain instances, the two traders allegedly pretended they were negotiating bond purchases with a third-party seller at a higher price when Nomura had already purchased the bonds at a lower price. According to the SEC, the fraud generated...

CFPB Director Richard Cordray would love to sit in on a GOP caucus as well.

The only way Fannie and Freddie are going to lose money is if there’s a hedging loss. And even then, it will be a non-cash charge…

As lenders increasingly turn to subservicers to handle various functions, up-front due diligence and ongoing monitoring are necessary to help increase originations and maximize return on investment, according to Kurt Blohm, a senior manager at Richey May & Co. Blohm is the leader of the consulting firm’s subservicer oversight review service and he recently authored a white paper on selection and oversight responsibilities for holders of mortgage servicing rights ...

House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling believes it’s a done deal that Cordray will run for office in Ohio…

Watt noted the CRT coverage has come at a financial cost – and that Fannie and Freddie have been paying a premium.

What if the FHFA cuts the payments and hands Treasury an IOU? The possibilities are endless...

The latest twist in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s enforcement of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act involves certain co-marketing activities. It has recently come to light that the CFPB is investigating Zillow for possible RESPA violations apparently having to do with the firm’s practice of co-marketing with loan officers, real estate agents and mortgage lenders. “For years, many industry participants wondered if allowing their real estate agents or loan officers to engage in co-marketing on Zillow Group applications and websites posed a risk to their companies under RESPA. The industry may soon know the answer,” Richard Andreano, a partner at the Ballard Spahr law firm in Washington, DC, noted in a recent online blog post. Andreano’s post cited...