1st Ginnie LIBOR Reverse MBS Issued

Financial Freedom has issued the first Ginnie Mae securitization with reverse mortgages tied to the London interbank offered rate, along with the first two fixed-rate reverse mortgage-backed securities. The three issues totaled $281 million. Financial Freedom, a subsidiary of Indymac Bank, specializes in reverse mortgage lending and is one of the largest originators of Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgages, which are called Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. "The fixed-rate and LIBOR [reverse MBS] are important next steps in the evolution of the secondary market for reverse mortgages," said Ginnie Executive Vice President Michael Frenz. Issuers like Goldman Sachs and Financial Freedom have securitized $648 million in FHA reverse mortgages since Ginnie launched its reverse MBS program in September 2007. Ginnie Mae, a government-owned corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, can be found online at http://www.ginniemae.gov.