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Inside MBS & ABS

March 13, 2009

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FASB and SEC, Under Congressional Pressure, Pledge to Fix ‘Mark to Market’ in Three Weeks

Bowing to heavy bipartisan pressure from Congress, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission this week pledged to issue fresh guidance on fair-value accounting in the next three weeks. FASB Chairman Robert Herz and SEC Acting Chief Accountant James Kroeker made the commitment under continued questioning and prodding by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-PA... Read More

New Legislation Aims to Establish New Federal Accounting Oversight Board

If the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board don’t fix controversial accounting rules that many say have contributed to the upheaval in financial markets, Congress may step in and create a new agency to take over the job.Reps. Ed Perlmutter, D-CO, and Frank Lucas, R-OK, this week introduced the “Federal Accounting Oversight... Read More

GSEs Take Huge Writedowns on Dwindling Non-Agency MBS Holdings During 4th Quarter

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – among the largest investors in the subprime and Alt A MBS markets – took a combined $11.25 billion in impairments on their non-agency mortgage securities holdings during the fourth quarter. The huge writedowns contributed significantly to the massive losses reported by the two government-sponsored enterprises. Both GSEs stopped buying subprime... [Includes one chart] Read More

Agency MBS Production Soars in February As Fannie and Freddie Ramp Up Issuance

Agency MBS production jumped 58 percent in February as the refinance boom that began with a sharp drop in mortgage rates several months ago began to land in the secondary market. According to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, $102.3 billion of new mortgage-securities were issued during February, a huge rebound from the dismal $64.7 billion issued... [Includes one chart and two graphs] Read More

Wall Street Hopes ‘Helpful’ Provisions in H.R. 3915 Are Carried Over in New Consumer Protection Bill

Despite some concerns, Wall Street feels that many of the provisions in anti-predatory lending legislation that House lawmakers passed in 2007 provided a fair balance, and industry officials hope that any new consumer protection legislation that Congress considers will do the same. Testifying at a House subcommittee hearing on mortgage lending reform, Laurence Platt, a partner... Read More

Lawmakers Target Fannie and Freddie Securities for More Federal Disclosure

Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face an uphill climb to earn their way out of government conservatorship, House lawmakers this week resurrected a widely criticized proposal that would require the agencies’ MBS programs to jump through a lot more regulatory hoops. H.R. 1353, the “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Full Disclosure Act... Read More

Industry Experts and Congress Discuss Options for New Systemic Risk Regulator

The mortgage- and asset-backed securities market played a pivotal role in the meltdown of global financial systems and they are likely to get close attention as Congress and the Obama administration try to create a new regulatory authority to prevent the catastrophe from happening again. But at this point, there is no clear consensus on how a systemic risk regulator should be... Read More

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