Cart

Inside MBS & ABS

April 28, 2017

View Archived Issues

ABS Market Roared to Life After Lethargic End to 2016, Big Gains in Card and Car Deals

A lot of ABS issuers that sat out the final three months of 2016 came back to the market early this year, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. Some $53.38 billion of non-mortgage ABS were issued during the first quarter, a huge 55.9 percent jump from the previous three-month period. The market didn’t quite match the high point of last year, but issuance in the first three months of 2017 was up 23.1 percent from the same period in 2016. First-time issuers and those that didn’t issue in the fourth quarter accounted...[Includes two data tables] Read More

Changes Proposed by S&P to Non-Agency MBS Rating Criteria Would Favor Prime Mortgages

S&P Global Ratings proposed changes this week to its criteria for rating non-agency MBS. The changes would provide higher ratings to certain tranches of non-agency MBS backed by new prime mortgages while prompting lower ratings for new issuance backed by seasoned mortgages. The rating service is considering a number of adjustments to foreclosure assumptions, loss severity projections and changes relating to the evaluation of qualitative factors. “The proposed revisions to our methodologies and assumptions are... Read More

Higher Prices for Nonprime Whole Loans Could Throw A Monkey Wrench Into Promising Securitization Trend

Recent signs of life in the nonprime securitization market have lifted the hopes of participants from coast to coast, but a potential snafu could be in the works in the form of strong investor demand for whole loans. According to some participants, recent whole-loan bids have been as high as 104. “That’s for newly originated non-qualified mortgages,” said one manager who spoke under the condition his name not be used. The implication is... Read More

CHOICE 2.0 Would Change Multiple Regs, NRSROs, Ditch DFA Risk-Retention Requirements for ABS

Secondary market participants would see a host of changes across the regulatory landscape under a detailed discussion draft of an overhaul to the Dodd-Frank Act that began circulating late last week from the office of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX. The Financial CHOICE Act, resurrected from the 114th Congress and revised in a number of key areas, would eliminate the Dodd-Frank risk-retention requirements for ABS other than residential mortgages. Elsewhere, wording in the bill has been included... Read More

SFIG Calls for More Certainty on Reg AB2 Disclosure, Changes to Capital Requirements for MBS and ABS

As Congress considers changes to the Dodd-Frank Act and other regulatory reforms, the Structured Finance Industry Group weighed in with a white paper detailing various regulatory reforms sought by participants in the MBS and ABS markets. One of the top priorities for the trade group is the so-called Regulation AB2, which sets loan-level disclosure requirements for securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission set... Read More

Moody’s, Fitch Pummel Ocwen with Downgrades Following Legal Actions by CFPB, State Regulators

Ocwen Financial’s travails continued to worsen this week after rating agencies announced adverse ratings actions amid the servicer’s mounting regulatory and legal problems. On April 24, Moody’s Investors Service placed Ocwen’s servicer assessment on review for a possible downgrade. On April 25, Fitch Ratings revised its previous rosy affirmation of the company’s primary servicer rating and stable outlook to negative. Both firms said the ratings actions were due to the increased regulatory scrutiny on Ocwen’s servicing operations, which could lead to hefty penalties that could pose a threat to the company’s financial stability. On April 20, a consortium of state mortgage regulators filed... Read More

GSE Successor Plans Proliferate, Senate Banking Sets Hearing for May, But No Action Expected in 2017

With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set to lose their capital buffers in eight short months, industry trade groups, think tanks and policy wonks are churning out reform blueprints at warp speed these days even though Congress likely won’t act until sometime next year, if then. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association floated its plan to reconstitute the two government-sponsored enterprises – followed by several critiques, not all of them kind – and this week the Independent Community Bankers of America published its proposal. Both plans throw... 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