REFinBlog

December 22, 2012

SEC To Focus on Structured Finance Ratings

A SEC staff study looks at three ways to reform the manner in which ratings are produced for structured finance securities. The study, required by Dodd-Frank, addresses (1) The credit rating process for structured finance products and the conflicts of … Continue reading →

December 17, 2012

CFPB Issues Fair Lending Report That Highlights Data Collection

The Fair Lending Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides an overview of the Bureau’s actions over the last year.  Some of the most interesting elements of the report relate to future HMDA and TILA rulemaking: Section 1094 of … Continue reading →

December 14, 2012

Levitin and Wachter’s New History of American Housing Finance

Adam Levitin and Susan Wachter have released a very interesting paper on The Public Option in Housing Finance.  The paper provides a history of the development of the housing finance infrastructure in the United States.  It concludes that [t]he experience … Continue reading →

December 12, 2012

CRL Issues Report on State of Lending

The Center for Responsible Lending has issued a new report, The State of Lending in America and its Impact on U.S. Households.  CRL, Cassandra-like, warned of an epidemic of millions of foreclosures at the height of the Subprime Boom, so … Continue reading →

Retail Trading Comes to Mortgage-Backed Securities

In a recent paper, Bessembinder et al. look at the implications of FINRA’s proposal to disseminate trade prices for structured products like mortgage-backed securities to the public.  They evaluate how price transparency has impacted the corporate bond market and find … Continue reading →

December 5, 2012

Opposition to FHFA Increase in Guaranty Fees for States with Lengthy Foreclosures

Senators from the five affected states have written a letter to the FHFA’s DeMarco.  This debate presents a choice between risk-based pricing on the one hand and what is generally considered a pro-homeowner legal regime on the other. The FHFA’s … Continue reading →

November 27, 2012

New Affordable Housing Goals Set for Fannie and Freddie

The FHFA issued a final rule.  The summary is as follows: The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to establish annual housing goals for mortgages … Continue reading →