CMBS

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) expressed their support for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposals designed to increase transparency in the securitization markets, although, at the same time, the groups also aired some of their reservations.

The recent financial crisis and its aftermath have raised fundamental questions about the future of the U.S. housing market and the GSEs.

Like many other New Yorkers beaten down by an interminably hot summer, I've been praying for a change in the weather. This isn't so different from what our market's after - a shift of sorts, a new climate that invites activity. Without that, we'll stay stuck.

Amid the gloom and doom surrounding the just-minted financial reform bill, there still remains a fair amount of consumer ABS trading.

Even though the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given securitization issuers six months to omit credit ratings from ABS registration statements filed under Regulation AB, the ABS industry still has to work on a long-term solution to the unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Europe has ridden into the summer months in the same state of uncertainty that has set the course for the last 18 months.

Despite the lower mortgage rates seen in recent months, MBS analysts across the Street are still expecting limited supply in the near term.

The idea of undergoing a stress test comes across as a much-needed safeguard to ease investor fears that the European banks with which they do business have sufficient capital to deal with future " stress" scenarios.

Moody's Investors Service has updated its global methodology on REITs as well as other commercial real estate firms.

European ABS looks set to enter August on a quiet note. On the primary side, there are no new public offerings in the pipeline after last week's launch and pricing of Santander's auto loan ABS deal.