FHFA Releases Progress Report on RMBS

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a progress report on steps being taken to establish a Common Securitization Infrastructure for residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The update reflects feedback from a broad cross-section of industry participants following FHFA’s issuance last October of a white paper entitled “Building a New Infrastructure for the Secondary Mortgage Market.” The white paper sets forth a proposal for both a new securitization platform and a model contractual and disclosure framework. The update notes progress and plans in the following areas: ► Work on the design, scope and building of a platform to perform securitization functions relating to data validation, issuance, disclosures, master servicing and bond administration is underway; a prototype has been developed. ► Alignment activities on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contracts and standards for agency mortgage-backed securities continue. ► The development of uniform contracts and standards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit risk transfer activities is proceeding. ► FHFA’s plan to institute a formal structure for accepting input from industry participants is moving forward.