Ginnie Launches Strips Program

Ginnie Mae has introduced the first government-guaranteed stripped mortgage-backed securities with a $2.2 billion deal underwritten by a syndicate of 14 Wall Street securities dealers led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.Stripped MBS are pass-through securities created by separating (stripping apart) the principal and interest payments from mortgages that back standard MBS and other mortgage-related assets, creating principal-only and interest-only classes (or combinations of the two), Ginnie Mae noted. Platinum securities, Ginnie Mae's MBS aggregation product, are the only type of asset currently allowed to be used as collateral for the new Strip transactions, the agency said. The new program "provides us greater access to the important institutional investor segment," said Ginnie Mae President Ronald A. Rosenfeld. "These new securities help satisfy investor demand for additional risk management and yield enhancement securities, and should increase the demand for Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities. This should ultimately lead to lower borrowing rates for FHA and VA homebuyers." Ginnie Mae can be found online at http://www.ginniemae.gov.