Cart

Inside MBS & ABS

September 11, 2015

View Archived Issues

Banks Continued Pulling Back From ABS Market During 2Q15, But Outstanding Supply Kept Growing

Commercial banks and savings institutions reduced their holdings of non-mortgage ABS again during the second quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call reports. Banks and thrifts held $147.55 billion of non-mortgage ABS as of the end of June, a 5.1 percent decline from the previous quarter. The banking industry’s aggregate ABS portfolio has been shrinking steadily since the end of 2013 and was down 15.2 percent over that period. Banks shed...[Includes two data tables] Read More

Ginnie Mae Updates Guidance for Issuers Requesting Approval of Changes in Their Business Positions

Ginnie Mae this week revised its requirements for participating MBS issuers seeking approval of changes in their business status as a result of mergers, change of ownership or control, transfer of assets or a negative turn in their dealings with regulatory agencies. The agency decided to update the guidance because of the increasing number of requests from issuers, according to Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer. The requests are getting more complex as well, he said. The agency’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide has been updated... Read More

SIFMA Presses FHFA to Align GSE Programs As Much as Possible, Set Timetable for Single Security

The heavyweight Wall Street group that sets the to-be-announced MBS standard is pushing federal regulators to take aggressive steps to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs aligned as much as possible as the government-sponsored enterprises develop a new single security. In a sternly written letter to the GSE regulator, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association warned that the TBA market could be disrupted if Fannie and Freddie policies diverge too much under the new system in which the GSEs would issue fully-fungible securities. “If performance and credit risk are not aligned, then the securities will not be fungible and the market will not trade them as if they are,” the group said. SIFMA argues... Read More

Post-Crisis Jumbo MBS Seen as Better at Addressing Tail Risk, Though There Are Differences Among Issuers

Jumbo MBS issued since 2010 have better tail-risk protection than deals issued before the financial crisis, according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. Provisions addressing tail risk aren’t uniform, however, with some differentiation among issuers. Tail risk occurs when only a few loans remain in an MBS, with activity on the loans subjecting investors to potentially unexpected losses. The risk is particularly pronounced for jumbo MBS as the average loan amount on many deals tops $700,000, and many of the transactions include loans with balances above $1.5 million. In a report released late last week, Moody’s noted... Read More

Concern Over Gain-on-Sale Margins Heats Up as Volumes Begin to Droop; Meanwhile SRPs Are Still Strong

With MBS issuance volume falling sharply in August, the mortgage industry may have another profit-related concern on its hands: gain-on-sale margins are coming under pressure. For now, no one is panicking, but until the recent rate drop – courtesy of China devaluing its currency – loan volumes were beginning to slow, especially for refinancings, although there’s plenty of hope that the purchase business will stay robust through the remainder of the fall. As one jumbo securitization official told Inside MBS & ABS: “Gain-on-sale margins have been... Read More

ABS Backed by Marketplace Lending Loans Poised For Growth, Though a Number of Obstacles Persist

Lenders and investment banks are working to increase the issuance of ABS backed by loans from marketplace lenders. Attracting investors to the new asset class has proved somewhat difficult, however, and a recent court decision has put the business model of some marketplace lenders in limbo. Howard Altarescu, a partner and co-head of the global finance business unit at the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, noted marketplace lending started with internet-based lending platforms, including Lending Club and Prosper Marketplace, that matched individual investors looking to lend small capital amounts to borrowers in need of consumer loans. He joined other experts during a webinar on the topic hosted this week by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Altarescu said... Read More

Ex-Nomura Brokers Charged in Pricing Fraud; Nomura, RBS Ordered to Pay $839 Million

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three MBS traders with fraud for inflating the prices of MBS they bought from and sold to investors. Former traders Ross Shapiro, Michael Gramins and Tyler Peters allegedly defrauded customers to illegally generate millions of dollars in revenue for their ex-employer, Nomura Holdings International. As senior traders with Nomura’s residential MBS desk since 2009, the brokers arranged trades between customers, meaning that each would buy MBS from one customer and resell them for profit to another customer. As head trader, Shapiro arranged MBS and manufactured housing ABS trades. According to the SEC, the traders’ illicit pricing took place... Read More

Panel Issues Student Loan Servicer Best Practices With Emphasis on Keeping Borrowers Current

Servicing federal student loans would likely become more costly and cumbersome under a set of best practices recently issued by a White House-sponsored interagency panel. Back in March, the Obama administration assembled a group of officials from the Treasury Department, the Department of Education, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Domestic Policy Council to monitor trends in the government’s student loan portfolio, budget costs and borrower assistance efforts. As part of that effort, the task force was directed... Read More

GSE Credit Risk Transfers Grow, Expand To Include More Reinsurance Deals

Freddie Mac’s Structured Agency Credit Risk deals and Fannie Mae’s Connecticut Avenue Security transactions have accounted for about 90 percent of risk transfers by the two government-sponsored enterprises. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency is pushing the GSEs to test new structures. FHFA said in a recent report that its longer term goal for the STACR and CAS products is for the GSEs to transition from debt issuance to credit-linked notes. That structure would be similar to enterprise debt issuances, but a trust would issue the note instead of the GSE. Principal and interest payments on the STACR and CAS debt issuances are... 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