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Inside MBS & ABS

March 20, 2009

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U.S. Ups Its Support of Agency MBS and Debt By $850 Billion; Fed Keeps Buying, Starts Selling

The Federal Reserve, in its continuing quest to stimulate mortgage lending, this week announced a substantial boost in its already massive support for the agency MBS market, committing to buy as much as $750 billion more of agency securities and $100 billion more in agency debt. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had already purchased some $159.83 billion... [Includes one graph] Read More

FASB Bows to Congress’ Demand for Immediate Issuance of Fair Value Measurement Guidelines

The Financial Accounting Standards Board this week proposed a two-pronged approach for determining whether a market is inactive and a transaction is not distressed, as well as new guidance for impairments of securities. The proposals are designed to address complaints about mark-to-market accounting and the problem of determining fair values for illiquid assets and confusion arising... Read More

Industry Sides Clash Over Loan Mod, Servicer Safe Harbor Legislation

Investors and servicers continue to clash over the modification of loans held in non-agency MBS trusts, and the flood of new programs and proposed legislation flowing from Capitol Hill looks to be intensifying the disagreement. The Treasury Department said President Obama’s Home Affordable Modification program is not intended to override investor protections provided by pooling and... Read More

Mortgage Securities Market Continued to Shrink in Late 2008 Despite Agency Growth

It’s one thing for new MBS production to decline, but the shrinkage of the overall size of the mortgage securities market that occurred in the second half of 2008 was unprecedented. According to an analysis by Inside MBS & ABS, there was a total of $6.793 trillion of single-family mortgage securities outstanding at the end of last year. That was up a... [Includes one chart] Read More

TALF Prepares to Kick Into Gear But May Fall Short of Expectations

Market participants are still waiting anxiously to gauge the early impact of the Federal Reserve’s Term ABS Loan Facility, but the program may not live up to early market expectations, according to a report issued by Standard & Poor’s this week. The TALF is a New York Fed program that will dole out three-year financing for investors buying newly issued, AAA-rated ABS... Read More

Congress Eyes More Securitizer ‘Skin in the Game’ As Lawmakers Debate Reform of Bank Oversight

More “skin in the game” throughout the mortgage securitization pipeline in the future may be inevitable, if one of the hearings on Capitol Hill this week is a reliable indicator. However, lawmakers and public policy experts are far apart on how to improve the oversight of systemic risk within the nation’s financial markets and perhaps beyond, as members of Congress seek to prevent another... Read More

MBS Agencies Tune Up Technology Systems To Improve Efficiency, Meet New Demands

Although the agency MBS platforms face virtually no competition for new loan collateral from other secondary market buyers, officials continue to upgrade business systems that will continue to give the programs a competitive edge in the future. To varying degrees, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae all bear the burden of legacy computer systems designed more than... Read More

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