Countrywide Financial ranked as the top sponsor of non-agency MBS during the first quarter of 2006, with $38.97 billion in publicly sold non-agency MBS under its brand, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database. The concept of a securitization sponsor was firmly rooted in the industry by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s sweeping Regulation AB issued last year. Under that rule, sponsors of asset-backed securities are parties that organize and initiate an ABS