A slowdown in new scratch-and-dent deals proved to be a drag on non-agency MBS issuance during the third quarter, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Total non-agency MBS production fell to $10.99 billion in the third quarter of 2017, a 29.9 percent decline from the previous period. It was the slowest quarter of 2017, although year-to-date production was still up 14.1 percent from the first nine months of 2016. The major factor was ... [Includes two data charts]
Read More
The Treasury Department released a report late last week calling for a variety of regulatory reforms for the MBS and ABS markets. Many of the reforms aim to increase issuance and are likely to come into effect, particularly those that don’t require action by Congress. The recommendations were part of a response to an executive order issued by President Trump calling for regulators to identify actions to be taken to align financial regulations with “core principles” established by ...
Read More
Risk-retention requirements established by the Dodd-Frank Act generally require sponsors or contributing lenders to retain risk from MBS and ABS issuance to align their interests with those of investors. Some issuers are financing their risk-retention obligations even though regulations regarding such transactions are murky. “A security sponsor or majority-owned affiliate must reconcile a variety of different requirements in structuring a secured financing of its risk-retention ...
Read More
The average daily trading volume in agency MBS increased to $223.2 billion in September, the second highest reading of the year, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Compared to August, trading volume was up about 12.1 percent, but flat compared to the same month a year ago. The increase in activity coincided with declining bond prices and rising interest rates. As the weekend approached, the yield on the benchmark ...
Read More
Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency both recently took detailed looks at an airline ABS deal, Business Jet Securities 2017-1, and came to much different assessments of the transaction and its risks to investors. Fitch implied that KBRA did not properly evaluate the potential for losses. According to a presale report from KBRA, the BJETS notes are secured by payments on leases and loans secured by business jet aircraft. “The collateral portfolio consists of 181 business jets ...
Read More
Annaly Capital Management, the nation’s largest real estate investment trust focused on the MBS market, hopes to raise upwards of $780 million through the sale of additional shares of common stock – money that it will invest in MBS and related assets. According to a press statement made by the New York-based firm, it also plans to further diversify its investments, putting the new money to work in commercial and “corporate credit assets.” In total, Annaly registered 65 million shares of ...
Read More
As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders inch closer to having hundreds of government documents released in pending shareholder lawsuits surrounding the conservatorship and preferred stock purchase agreement, they are more confident the court will rule in their favor. In the latest development in Fairholme Funds v. the United States, Federal Claims Court Judge Margaret Sweeney last week granted a motion to compel the disclosure of documents filed over the summer by ...
Read More