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Inside MBS & ABS

February 24, 2017

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Mortgage REIT Holdings of Residential MBS Fall Slightly in 4Q16, Preliminary Estimates Show

Most real estate investment trusts that invest in MBS and other mortgage-related assets reported declines in their holdings of agency and non-agency securities during the fourth quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. The top publicly traded REITs had a combined residential MBS portfolio valued at $228.28 billion as of the end of 2016. That was down 3.5 percent from the previous quarter and off 6.5 percent from the end of 2015. The figures are preliminary because several smaller REITs have not yet reported fourth-quarter results. Agency MBS continued...[Includes one data table] Read More

Revised GOP Reform Plan Would Significantly Loosen Rules For Rating Services, Roll Back Dodd-Frank Standards

Planned revisions to the Financial CHOICE Act would loosen regulation of rating services, according to a recent memo by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Hensarling sent the memo to the leadership team of the House Financial Services Committee this month detailing changes that will be included in hise so-called CHOICE Act 2.0. The expected revisions to standards for nationally recognized statistical rating organizations go well beyond the rollbacks included in the version of the CHOICE Act that was introduced in September. The 2016 bill would have repealed... Read More

Fannie/Freddie Retained Portfolios Continued Shrinking in 2016, Mostly by Shedding MBS

The retained mortgage investments of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined by 17.5 percent over the course of 2016, keeping the two government-sponsored enterprises on track to meet targets set as conditions of their conservatorships. The two GSEs reported a combined $570.78 billion in retained mortgage investments at yearend, down 7.3 percent from September. The biggest decline was in their holdings of MBS, which fell 23.8 percent for the year. Back in the early 2000s, Fannie and Freddie were...[Includes one data table] Read More

Nonprime MBS Sector Buzzing with Activity, New Deals from Angel, Galton and Citadel

The once dormant market for MBS backed by newly originated nonprime loans is beginning to pick up steam, with deals unveiled by affiliates of Angel Oak Home Loans and Galton Funding. But that’s not all. According to industry officials who work in the sector, Citadel Servicing Corp., Irvine, CA, is planning a rated security for some time in May and there’s even talk that bond investing giant PIMCO might get in on the action. Origination and investment banking sources, speaking under the condition of anonymity, told... Read More

Appeals Court Bars GSE Shareholders from Making Illegal Treasury Sweep Claims, but ‘Breach of Contract’ Possible

In a long-awaited decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled this week against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders who have been contesting the Treasury Department’s net worth sweep of the government-sponsored enterprises’ earnings. On Feb. 21, Judge Royce Lamberth ruled shareholders in Perry Capital LLC vs. Treasury, et al, are barred by the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act from making their claims. Perry sued... Read More

TGI Friday’s Brings First Whole-Business Securitization of 2017 With $450 Million Deal

Securities investors will soon be able to have a taste of the revenues generated by Long Island iced teas and Jack Daniel’s glazed chicken strips as TGI Friday’s is set to issue a $450.0 million whole-business securitization. The planned TGIF Funding LLC Series 2017-1 received ratings from Kroll Bond Rating Agency and S&P Global Ratings this month. KBRA assigned BBB ratings to both tranches of the security while S&P assigned BBB- ratings. The deal follows... Read More

Lenders Record Partial Win over RFC; NY Court Rules on Statute of Limitations; SIFMA Files Brief

A Minnesota state court has rendered a judgment that could substantially limit the amount of damages Residential Funding Co. and its successor-in-interest, the ResCap Liquidating Trust, could recover if it were ever to prevail on its claims in any given lawsuit against correspondent lenders, according to industry attorneys. On Feb. 1, the District Court of Hennepin County held that RFC and ResCap would not be able to pursue loan-by-loan damages associated with a repurchase claim and, thus, could not use a repurchase price “formula” to establish damages, said Philip Stein, a partner with Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, in an analysis. The decision favored... Read More

Compliance Pros Weigh Likely Effect Risk Retention Will Have on Structured Aircraft, SFR Securitization

It is two months into 2017, and compliance attorneys are still trying to discern some of the finer nuances of applying the Dodd-Frank Act’s risk-retention requirements to various sectors of the secondary market beyond residential MBS. One such area is structured aircraft portfolio transactions. In a recently issued white paper, attorneys from the Clifford Chance law firm and four other U.S. law firms looked at applying the rules to a typical issuance of securities by a newly formed special-purpose vehicle that owns (or will own) a portfolio of aircraft and related leases. They note... Read More

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