REFinBlog

January 8, 2013

Republicans Issue Report Critical of CFPB’s Regulation of Mortgage Markets

The staff of the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a report that argues that the CFPB is “predisposed to limit access to credit;”  “will increase regulatory burdens and reduce credit availability;” and has inadequate mechanisms to “detect … Continue reading →

January 7, 2013

S&P Predicts Residential Mortgage Finance To Improve in 2013

S&P’s report has a couple of interesting predictions: Although the GSEs (government-sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have been vital players in the U.S. mortgage finance market, 2012 was a strong year for mortgage banking, largely because … Continue reading →

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 →