Finance

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

Russia's mortgage-finance market is sloughing off the toxic residue of the financial crisis, but the strength of the comeback is being largely conditioned by government support.

The Dodd-Frank financial reform act signed this month by President Obama was, in my reading, very unfriendly to the non-agency MBS market. Taken in its entirety, key provisions of the bill create significant and protracted uncertainty for issuers and investors, further delaying the much-anticipated revival of private-label MBS issuance.

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.

Once-regular issuers in the "orphaned" ABS market backed by government-guaranteed FFELP loans are now scrambling to reposition their businesses and offering new private loan products. But investors in student loan ABS are unlikely to see a regular deal flow anytime soon.

Up until the market closed on Tuesday last week, the higher mortgage coupons were setting new price highs as the prepayment outlook remained fairly benign as a result of the U.S. borrowers' credit-impaired status.

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.

Michael Williams, the president and chief executive of Fannie Mae, said Wednesday that the government-sponsored enterprise is preparing for an expected overhaul of the U.S. housing system by Congress and the Obama administration.

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

Once-regular issuers in the "orphaned" ABS market backed by government-guaranteed FFELP loans are now scrambling to reposition their businesses and offering new private loan products. But investors in student loan ABS are unlikely to see a regular deal flow anytime soon.

Fairholme Capital Management’s motto is “Ignore the Crowd,” and the hedge fund is sticking close to that maxim with its roughly $200 million investment in MBIA.

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

Fannie Mae issued $40.2 billion of MBS in June, up 11% in May, but far below the $130 billion it issued in the same month a year ago during a major boom in refinancings.

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.

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised the haircuts for repo lending including ABS assets by four percentage points to 16% from 12%. The new haircuts for ABS lending will be valid as of January 2011.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thursday charged Citigroup with misleading investors about its exposure to subprime mortgage-related securities.