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Inside MBS & ABS

April 3, 2009

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GSE MBS Issuance Soars in March, But Fannie And Freddie Show Little Investment Appetite

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posted huge increases in new MBS issuance over the past two months, with March activity hitting the highest monthly production levels since the historic mortgage refinance boom back in 2003. The Bush administration’s move to bolster confidence in the mortgage market in late November sparked a rally in mortgage interest... [Includes two graphs] Read More

FASB Finalizes New Emphases on OTTI, Fair Value; Opts for Prospective Application, Limiting Relief

The Financial Accounting Standards Board, continuing to feel the heat generated by a Congressional grilling last month and more than 600 public comment letters, rushed ahead this week with a final version of its updated guidance on fair value accounting and “other-than-temporary” impairment. The changes will allow institutions to value certain assets at what they would be... Read More

H.R. 1728 Creates More Liability Risk for Assignees Than Previous Anti-PL Legislation, Expert Says

New anti-predatory lending legislation introduced on Capitol Hill would create more liability for mortgage securitizers than a previous bill approved by the House in 2007, according to a top compliance expert. The increased uncertainty as to whether or not a particular mortgage is subject to H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, would... Read More

GSEs, Banking Sector Pick Up the Slack as Foreign Investors Retreat From MBS Market

Fannie Mae and Freddie returned to the top of the MBS investor ranking in the second half of 2008 as foreign investors dumped their holdings of U.S. mortgage securities. The two government-sponsored enterprises held $1.113 trillion of mortgage securities on their books at the end of last year, with most of it – $818.0 billion – representing agency MBS. That was up... [Includes one chart] Read More

Fitch Weighs Collateral Requirements, Revised Triggers to Better Assess Counterparty Risk

Fitch Ratings this week proposed new counterparty risk criteria aimed at reflecting the changes in the market that have occurred over the past year that are not addressed by the current system.After the failure of financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers that were important counterparties, many structured finance bondholders were exposed to downgrades, revealing major... Read More

Public-Private Investment Program Sounds Good On Paper, But Participation May Be Lackluster

Industry observers were glad to see more details about how the Troubled Asset Relief Program will be used to help financial institutions rid their portfolios of distressed mortgage-related assets, but analysts aren’t at all sure how well the new programs will work. The Obama administration last week released the plans for the Public-Private Investment Program, which will use $100 billion... Read More

Regulators Question TARP Oversight

Government watchdogs continue to raise concerns about their ability to monitor the use of taxpayer funds doled out under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Officials from the Congressional Oversight Panel and Government Accountability Office, as well as Neil Borofsky, the special inspector general of the TARP, told the Senate Finance Committee that the program desperately needs... Read More

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