Credit risk transfers

A risk-based capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to top the agenda in 2020 as the companies’ regulator executes plans for their release into the private sector.

The Federal Housing Financial Agency's latest report on credit risk transfers shows Fannie Mae continues to slowly improve a multifamily mortgage risk-sharing metric that lags Freddie Mac's by a wide margin.

An increase in credit risk transfer activity since 2015 signifies a sea change for private mortgage insurers that may be about to intensify, according to an industry trade group.

Freddie Mac continues to churn out steady financial returns, with the growth in first-time home buyers and credit risk transfers providing the GSE stable footing when a recession comes, according to new CEO David Brickman.

The post-crisis operational improvements at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have resulted in stronger mortgage loan performance, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Director Mark Calabria urged lawmakers to grant the agency chartering authority similar to that of bank regulators to boost competition in the mortgage market.

Delinquencies associated with the government-sponsored enterprises high loan-to-value ratio programs that target low-to-moderate income homebuyers are slightly better than expected, at least early on, according to Fitch.

Government-sponsored enterprise executives say they want to continue to offer credit risk transfers and guarantee-fee parity after the GSEs are released from conservatorship, but they might not be able to.

Freddie Mac will keep building on the financial reforms that produced profitability during conservatorship as broader government-sponsored enterprise proposals take shape, according to departing CEO Don Layton.

Fannie Mae is considering sharing more risk with the private sector to reduce future strain on its earnings from the implementation of the Current Expected Credit Loss accounting standard next year.

The residential mortgages being reinsured are less risky, by several measures, than its previous deal; none of the borrowers have ever missed a payment.

This time, investors required Radian to hold on to the first 2.5% of losses it covers on the pool; by comparison, the insurer’s previous deal, Eagle Re 2018-1, had a lower “attachment” point of 2.25%.

An emerging gap between the government-sponsored enterprises on a Federal Housing Finance Agency scorecard item is prompting Fannie Mae to diversify its multifamily credit risk transfer efforts.

While reinsurers are becoming more comfortable with the risk it is offloading, the GSE wants to maintain control of the workout process for loans that go bad.

Arch Capital’s next offering of credit risk transfer notes features heavy exposure to residential mortgages that have been modified by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Credit risk transfer does more than just reduce exposure to a downturn in the housing market. It also provides them with information about how others view mortgage credit risk.

This year saw elation over the rollback of risk retention for CLOs give way to concerns about leveraged lending, the 1st post-crisis downgrade of a subprime auto deal, the 1st AAA for commercial PACE, and much, much more.

Dividing the transaction into two tranches allowed the GSE to tailor the transaction to the risk appetite of participants, lowering the cost of reinsurance.

Laurel Davis, VP, credit risk transfer at Fannie Mae, explains why the switch to a REMIC structure for CAS is important, and why it took so long.

The company’s first transaction, Eagle Re 2018-1, transfers a portion of the credit risk on approximately $36.3 billion of mortgages, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings.