Six Federal Agencies Jointly Approve Final Risk Retention Rule
Updated 12/29: On December 24, National Mortgage News published an article titled Federal Regulators Publish Final Risk-Retention Rule.
On October 22, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and five other federal agencies announced the joint approval of the final risk retention rule to be submitted to the Federal Register.
Six Federal Agencies Jointly Approve Final Risk Retention Rule
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
?Joint Release
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Housing Finance Agency
Office of Comptroller of the Currency
Securities and Exchange Commission?
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Six federal agencies approved a final rule requiring sponsors of securitization transactions to retain risk in those transactions. The final rule implements the risk retention requirements in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
The final rule is being issued jointly by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. As provided under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, as Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, played a coordinating role in the joint agency rulemaking.
The final rule largely retains the risk retention framework contained in the proposal issued by the agencies in August 2013 and generally requires sponsors of asset-backed securities (ABS) to retain not less than five percent of the credit risk of the assets collateralizing the ABS issuance. The rule also sets forth prohibitions on transferring or hedging the credit risk that the sponsor is required to retain.
As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the final rule defines a “qualified residential mortgage” (QRM) and exempts securitizations of QRMs from the risk retention requirement. The final rule aligns the QRM definition with that of a qualified mortgage as defined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The final rule also requires the agencies to review the definition of QRM no later than four years after the effective date of the rule with respect to the securitization of residential mortgages and every five years thereafter, and allows each agency to request a review of the definition at any time. The final rule also does not require any retention for securitizations of commercial loans, commercial mortgages, or automobile loans if they meet specific standards for high quality underwriting.
The final rule will be effective one year after publication in the Federal Register for residential mortgage-backed securitizations and two years after publication for all other securitization types.
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Contacts:
Federal Reserve Board Eric Kollig (202) 452-2955
FDIC David Barr (202) 898-6992
FHFA Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030
HUD Cameron French (202) 708-0980
OCC Stephanie Collins (202) 649-6870
SEC Office of Public Affairs (202) 551-4120?
Please click here to view the news release online.
Please click here to view the Final Rule to be submitted to Federal Register PDF.
About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest mortgage field services company in the U.S. Founded in 1990 by Robert Klein and based in Valley View, Ohio, the company inspects and maintains defaulted and foreclosed properties for mortgage servicers, lenders, and other financial institutions. Safeguard employs approximately 1,700 people, in addition to a network of thousands of contractors nationally.
Website: www.safeguardproperties.com.
