Capital markets

The findings from Standard & Poor's show little impact from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's proposal regarding what information is required to underwrite a conforming mortgage.

But activity is still very low, as just 1% of the market is in the position to refinance thanks to high interest rates, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.

During her opening remarks before lawmakers Tuesday, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency reiterated that borrowers with strong credit profiles are not being penalized to benefit those with poorer scores.

The government-sponsored enterprise only tweaked the two-year mortgage origination forecast, with a $6 billion reduction for 2023, but an increase of $7 billion for 2024.

Although issuance of new securitizations has been low compared to year-ago levels, it rebounded as spring buying began

The offering comes amid an ongoing wave of private and public MSR sales.

After a selloff toward the end of 2022 when it sought to reduce liquidity risk, the company resumed purchases of whole loans last quarter.

The legislative proposals backed by Republican members of congress seek to undo the latest cross-subsidized adjustments to loan fees that two large government-related mortgage investors charge.

A couple small deals with some unusual regional concentration also are in the market and one broker says many billions of dollars more are in the pipeline.

It's a debate that matters more than ever, as bond traders ponder the end of the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign of interest-rate hikes and wager on cuts starting within months.

Demand for AAAs is still challenged as banks, the biggest buyers, are facing too much uncertainty and volatility around their balance sheets.

Subordinated debt issuances and asset-backed securities have helped institutions of all asset sizes weather recent market uncertainties and fuel campaigns for growth, according to executives and investment experts.

The agency, which oversees government-related investors that set underwriting parameters in the U.S. mortgage market, estimates the process will begin in 2024.

The government-backed acquisition heads off regulatory and financial concerns at a Swiss bank that could have affected overseas financial institutions that U.S. lenders count on.

Institutions can borrow against par-valued securities that they would otherwise have to sell at a loss when there's a run on deposits, and it could have effectiveness beyond its actual usage.

The new fees based on the DTI, which lenders have said is too likely to vary throughout the origination process for a single loan, will now go into effect in August.

Mortgage-backed securities aren't generally considered risky assets, but how SVB managed them contributed to its woes.

The government-sponsored enterprises will likely have their mainstay bonds exempted from the potential securitization-related rule, but their credit-risk transfers could be subject to it, some experts say.

Lee invested more than $15 billion in hundreds of transactions as of 2020. That included his best-known transaction, the 1992 purchase of Snapple Beverage Corp.

In the US, some loans include blacklists, which name specific funds that aren't allowed to buy the debt. Those restrictions have come into focus recently.