ABS

While the FDIC prepares to take away the Safe Harbor privileges from ABS issuers, it has reaped the rewards of securitization by coming to market with three structured note offerings over the last month.

As Congress and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) debate the severity of restrictions to place on greedy lenders and Wall Street "securitizers" to ensure that they can never again jeopardize the global financial system while forcing droves of decent American families into homeless shelters, we would all do well to take a step back and consider where the U.S. housing finance system has been and where it is headed.

Extensions have become one of the latest loss-saving measures in European CMBS transactions after noteholders voted in favor of what would be the first extension of a European class of CMBS notes' legal maturity date.

For the last several years, Brazil's main real estate ABS security, the CRI, has often looked like the poor cousin to the FIDC, a popular vehicle that has proved a good fit for a wide range of assets, even real estate.

The recently-released Senate financial reform package contains a number of provisions designed to prevent a recurrence of the performance problems that triggered the recent financial crisis. The most widely discussed initiative requires "securitizers" to retain a minimum of 5% of the credit risk of any sale or conveyance of assets through the securitization process.

Totals for public ABS deals for the first quarter of 2010 dropped year-over-year, according to preliminary figures from the ASR Scorecard database.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that shook a long swath of Chile on Feb. 27 left damage that could work its way into ABS deals, sources said. The most vulnerable asset class is related to real estate, including deals backed by residential mortgages and lease-to-own contracts, but there are safeguards that should help transactions avoid serious deterioration.

Finally. The U.S. Treasury Department and the nation's largest mortgage lender have introduced programs that appear more likely to lessen foreclosures and hopefully stabilize house prices. However, only a slice of investors in the MBS housing those mortgages may clink champagne glasses.

Last Tuesday President Obama enacted a law requiring all student loans that are federally guaranteed to be originated by the federal government - effectively eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) starting on June 30. This is an event that, according to ABS analysts, will have a considerable and permanent impact on the SLABS market.

As Congress and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) debate the severity of restrictions to place on greedy lenders and Wall Street "securitizers" to ensure that they can never again jeopardize the global financial system while forcing droves of decent American families into homeless shelters, we would all do well to take a step back and consider where the U.S. housing finance system has been and where it is headed.

Totals for public ABS deals for the first quarter of 2010 dropped year-over-year, according to preliminary figures from the ASR Scorecard database.

Finally. The U.S. Treasury Department and the nation's largest mortgage lender have introduced programs that appear more likely to lessen foreclosures and hopefully stabilize house prices. However, only a slice of investors in the MBS housing those mortgages may clink champagne glasses.

Last Tuesday President Obama enacted a law requiring all student loans that are federally guaranteed to be originated by the federal government - effectively eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) starting on June 30. This is an event that, according to ABS analysts, will have a considerable and permanent impact on the SLABS market.

As Congress and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) debate the severity of restrictions to place on greedy lenders and Wall Street "securitizers" to ensure that they can never again jeopardize the global financial system while forcing droves of decent American families into homeless shelters, we would all do well to take a step back and consider where the U.S. housing finance system has been and where it is headed.

Totals for public ABS deals for the first quarter of 2010 dropped year-over-year, according to preliminary figures from the ASR Scorecard database.

Finally. The U.S. Treasury Department and the nation's largest mortgage lender have introduced programs that appear more likely to lessen foreclosures and hopefully stabilize house prices. However, only a slice of investors in the MBS housing those mortgages may clink champagne glasses.

Last Tuesday President Obama enacted a law requiring all student loans that are federally guaranteed to be originated by the federal government - effectively eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) starting on June 30. This is an event that, according to ABS analysts, will have a considerable and permanent impact on the SLABS market.

The Association of Mortgage Investors has put together a white paper for Congress and regulators as they consider ways to revitalize private sector demand for mortgage asset-backed securities.

Fannie Mae issued $44 billion in mortgage-backed securities in February, down 7.6% from the previous month.

Ambac Financial Group will not be filing its Form 10-K on or prior to March 31.