Finance

Although the Obama administration's white paper on housing finance reform came up short on details, it reemphasized the importance of the securitization market in the future of housing finance.

The joint Treasury/HUD report to Congress released this month was a major disappointment to market participants looking for a timely resolution to the status of the GSEs and the future of housing finance. While the white paper claims to lay out "the Administration's plan to reform America's housing finance market," it unfortunately amounts to a set of poorly defined policy options that will likely require years to codify and implement. Moreover, its core assumptions are unrealistic and ultimately border on wishful thinking.

Lawmakers laid out a series of ambitious deadlines in the Dodd-Frank Act, requiring regulators to complete roughly 170 new rules by July.

After waiting ten months, Redwood Trust issued a second Jumbo RMBS, injecting some optimism into the private-label mortgage securitization market.

A squabble over bragging rights for making the first whole business securitization since the financial crisis speaks volumes about Wall Street's ambitions for this slowly reviving asset class.

With economic growth in Argentina having surpassed 8% last year and unemployment diminishing, it is no wonder the country's consumer ABS sector boomed in 2010. Collateral, after all, was in generous supply as more optimistic consumers made purchases on credit. This year, observers said we should expect more of the same, although the pace of economic expansion is projected to be closer to half of last year's figure. Concern about rising delinquencies is moderate for now, and there's none of the bubble anxiety beginning to infect neighboring Brazil.

The Dodd-Frank Act's Section 939A prompts banking regulators to remove any "reference to, or requirements of reliance on, credit ratings" in their regulations and capital requirements. The uncertainty of how regulators will interpret those words has the ABS industry bubbling and proposals emerging.

Borrower behavior changes over time and investors and lenders should constantly adjust the way they utilize the different credit score values to accurately predict loan performance, according to officials from FICO and VantageScore.

Redwood Trust, the only firm to dip its toe back into the Jumbo MBS market, earned $15 million in the fourth quarter, a 63% decline from the same period a year earlier.

Tomorrow the European Central Bank (ECB) is set to extend its minimum two-rating requirement for all existing ABS to remain repo eligible at the central bank’s window. This effectively ends the grandfathering period that started a year ago.

The European primary market has remained mostly quiet over the month of February.

World Omni Financial Corp. is marketing an $800 million new auto receivables deal that will include three triple-A rated tranches.

Jay Kim, co-head of Barclays Capital's U.S. asset securitization team, will be moving to Credit Suisse in May to head up the bank's asset finance team. He will be bringing around 10 Barclays bankers with him.

The Obama Administration is willing to start the process of winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it must be done gradually over as many as five to seven years to prevent disruptions to the mortgage market and the economic recovery, according to a high ranking Treasury Department official.

Despite widespread allegations of botched loan administration and conflicts of interest, a review of the three main rating agencies' quality evaluations of servicers (including banks) show that virtually every servicer with a published rating is ranked as "proficient," "average" or better.

DBRS has assigned provisional ratings to the DSC Floorplan Master Owner Trust Series 2011-1 notes. The DSC Floorplan Master Owner Trust Series 2011-1 transaction represents the first issuance out of a newly created master trust and the second securitization of Dealer Service Corp’s (DSC) wholesale receivables. The trust assets collateralizing the series’ issuance include a revolving pool of receivables originated in connection with the purchase and financing by motor vehicle dealers of predominantly used automobiles and trucks. Dealer Services Corp. is the sponsor and originator of the receivables. DSC was formed in 2005. The management team has considerable experience in this specialized sector within the wholesale market. DSC funds loans to independent dealers in order for those dealers to access vehicles at used vehicle auctions. This market is a well established part of the automotive industry, with two very large auction companies: Manheim Inc., ADESA Inc. and a host of smaller or regional auctions like ABC Auctions and a large number of smaller independent auctions. Credit enhancement for the Series 2011-1 Class A notes is 17.75%. This amount is derived from 10.0% subordination of notes, 7.50% residual interest and 0.25% reserve account. Since this is a master trust, investors are expecting to be repaid on the expected date. If there were an amortization event, enhancement will build over time since the Class A Notes are paid first before the subordinate notes receive any principal. The reserve account is also calculated as a percent of the initial notes and will grow as a percent of the outstanding notes when those notes are repaid. The structure will consist of a three year interest only period followed by an expected principal repayment on the expected principal payment date (March 15, 2014). If an early amortization event occurs, noteholders could be paid back their principal earlier than (March 15, 2014). If this were to occur, the senior most class of notes, Class A, will be paid 100% of the principal before the next senior class of notes, Class B. Dealer Services Corp. (DSC) is in the market with its DSC Floorplan Master Owner Trust Series 2011-1 transaction.The over $252 million deal is the firm's first issuance out of a newly created master trust and the second securitization of Dealer Service Corp’s (DSC) wholesale receivables, according to a DBRS presale report. The transaction is backed by receivables originated in connection with the purchase and financing by motor vehicle dealers of predominantly used automobiles and trucks. According to the rating agency, DSC was formed in 2005 and its management team is considered to have considerable experience in this specialized sector within the wholesale market. The firm finances loans to independent dealers so those dealers to access vehicles at used vehicle auctions. This market is a well established part of the automotive industry, with two very large auction companies: Manheim, ADESA and a host of smaller or regional auctions like ABC Auctions as well as a large number of smaller independent auctions. The structure comprises of a three-year interest only period followed by an expected principal repayment on the expected principal payment date on March 15, 2014, DBRS said. The indenture trustee on the transaction is Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas and the owner trustee is Wilmington Trust Co. while the back-up servicer is Portfolio Financial Services Corp.

Thanks to a $1.3 billion check from Bank of America, Fannie Mae reported positive net operating earnings of $73 million for the fourth quarter — its first such profit since 2007.

February remittance reports showed that default rates reversed their course after rising the previous month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

Manager Activity: Autos Book Runner Amount (US$ Mil) Rank Mkt.

The political unrest that is taking place in the Middle East has trickled over to U.S. CMBS market spreads, Barclays Capital analysts said.