Compliance & Regulation

Lewis Ranieri, the co-inventor of the MBS, on Wednesday predicted that the new 'qualified residential mortgage' rule will push more borrowers into non-QRM loans who would normally qualify for a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac product.

Depending on who you talk to, the mortgage risk retention proposal unveiled Tuesday will either restore sensible standards to the residential market, or result in a significant credit crunch.

The Federal Reserve Board is showing no signs of backing down on its loan officer compensation rule despite congressional requests and industry lawsuits to delay the April 1 effective date.

The House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to kill HAMP, the White House's signature loan modification program and to stop the administration from spending more TARP funds on foreclosure prevention programs.

The American Bankers Association, in a new letter, is urging the Federal Reserve Board to delay the effective date of its loan officer compensation rule for at least 90 days.

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell who is presiding over a lawsuit aimed at preventing federal broker compensation rules from taking effect April 1 said Tuesday she will rule "shortly" on the matter but offered no clear timetable.

Taking a piecemeal approach to housing reform, House Republicans introduced a series of bills Tuesday to scale back Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The drive to reform the government-sponsored enterprises is raising two questions that could fundamentally reshape the way borrowers obtain mortgages: will a revamp effectively eliminate the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and would that be a good thing?

Clayton Holdings LLC this week announced that it has hired a team of structured finance professionals to run a new independent financial analysis and consulting group focused on providing litigation support and valuation services to players in the residential MBS market.

Federal regulators are making it difficult for issuers of all types of mortgage-backed securities to escape the costs of risk retention. The rules officially unveiled Tuesday morning prohibit MBS issuers from receiving upfront compensation based on excess spread through an interest-only tranche or premiums bonds.