Cart

Inside MBS & ABS

September 26, 2014

View Archived Issues

Cautious Optimism in Structured Finance Market As New Regulations Ease Compliance Uncertainty

Investors are comfortable with broad swaths of the structured finance market and issuers are cautiously optimistic that regulators won’t hinder activity too much going forward, according to attendees at the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network this week in Miami Beach. “We’re in a pretty good spot right now in the market from a supply-demand perspective,” said Bob Behal, a principal and co-head of ABS investments and commercial MBS investments at Vanguard Group. Almost 3,700 people had registered by the start of the conference, up slightly from around 3,500 people in 2013. Will Zak, a director at Barclays, said... Read More

Treasury Sees a ‘Benchmark’ Non-Agency MBS as Potential Spur for Market

The Treasury Department is considering working with an issuer to sell a non-agency MBS that would serve as a benchmark transaction, according to agency officials. The goal of the issuance is to attract investors to the sector and create a standard term sheet for issuers. “The Treasury is thinking about facilitating one or more benchmark transactions,” Michael Stegman, counselor to the Treasury Department for housing finance policy, said this week at the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network in Miami Beach. He said... Read More

Officials Play Up Growing Demand for Ginnie Mae MBS, Cite Factors for Increased Ginnie Activity

Demand in the fixed-income markets for Ginnie Mae securities continues to increase at home and abroad as the program’s deep liquidity and explicit government guaranty draw more investors, according to agency officials and MBS issuers. The relatively high proportion of purchase-money loans and first-time buyers helped Ginnie edge past Freddie Mac in recent months in terms of new issuance, noted John Getchis, head of Ginnie’s Office of Capital Markets, during the Ginnie Mae Summit held in Washington, DC, this week. “We saw... Read More

GSEs’ Risk-Sharing Activities Poised to Grow, Offer More Diverse Collateral and Structures

The government-sponsored enterprises plan to expand their risk-sharing activities in a number of ways in 2015, according to officials at the GSEs and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Kevin Palmer, a vice president of strategic credit costing and structuring at Freddie Mac, said Freddie is set to include a broader group of mortgages in its risk-sharing transactions in an effort to increase the investor base. Fannie has similar plans. The GSEs have issued... Read More

Supply of Residential MBS Outstanding Declined Again In 2Q14; Fed Now Owns a Quarter of the Market

With new issuance faltering in 2014, the net supply of residential MBS in the market declined by 0.3 percent during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. MBS outstanding totaled $6.348 trillion at the end of June, wiping out gains made in the second half of last year. It was the lowest MBS outstanding number since 2006. The agency MBS market grew...[Includes three data charts] Read More

Fitch: Concentration of Servicers Could Squeeze U.S. Residential MBS Landscape

The rapid growth of nonbank special servicers since the mortgage crisis has resulted in a concentration of entities controlling the vast majority of loans in need of a work out, which could present some risks for non-agency MBS, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch cited industry consolidation, increased specialization and regulation as the primary drivers of the concentration shift toward nonbank servicers. “Historically, servicing was concentrated among the largest commercial banks due to their dominant market share in mortgage origination,” the rating service said. “Today, several nonbank servicers have achieved portfolio sizes that have begun to eclipse their banking counterparts.” Fitch noted... Read More

Non-QM MBS Won’t Happen This Year, But Nonbanks Developing the Non-QM Market Have ‘Take-Out’ Investors

At least a dozen or so national lenders – almost all of them nonbanks – have rolled out lending programs for loans that don’t meet the qualified mortgage standard, and none of them expect to issue a mortgage-backed security this year. Moreover, most aren’t so certain they will be able to issue a security next year either, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking about it. New Penn Financial has created... Read More

Morningstar Credit Ratings Publishes Methodology For Rating and Monitoring U.S. ABS Transactions

Life for ABS investors got a little easier this week as Morningstar Credit Ratings put out its methodology for U.S. ABS ratings, outlining the principles the firm uses when evaluating, rating and monitoring financial, operating and corporate asset transactions. Morningstar’s analytical framework utilizes seven areas of analysis common to ABS transactions: legal structure, asset quality, transaction structure, credit support, cash flow analysis, originator and servicer quality, and counterparty risk. The analysis begins... Read More

Industry Groups Urge FHFA to Move to Common Security, Focus on Loan Quality, Not Volume in Strategic Plan

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to move toward a common, fungible security while also striving to ensure the government-sponsored enterprises’ safety and soundness and promote liquidity and access to the secondary mortgage market, according to early feedback from industry groups. Last month, the FHFA issued a request for input regarding its strategic plan for fiscal years 2015 through 2019. The FHFA plan identifies three strategic goals for the GSEs: ensuring safe and sound regulated entities; ensuring liquidity, stability and access in housing finance; and managing Fannie’s and Freddie’s ongoing conservatorship. The Mortgage Bankers Association called on... Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results