Immelt Appointed Chairman of Council on Jobs and Competitiveness; Volcker Resigns
On Friday, President Obama announced that General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt will serve as Chairman of the newly created “Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.” The Council will advise the President on job creation policies and on the establishment of a long-term growth strategy. Immelt previously served on the board of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB). On Thursday, the President also announced the resignation of PERAB Chairman Paul Volcker and dissolution of the PERAB.
SEC Issues New Rules on Asset Backed Securities
On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved new regulations regarding asset-backed securities. Among a series of new rules which will take effect in 2012, one requires that financial firms that issue asset-backed securities assess and disclose the quality of the underlying assets, including mortgages, credit card debt and student loans. The rule, which the SEC first proposed in October, passed in a 3-2 vote. The agency’s two Republican commissioners, Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes, opposed the changes. Another new rule requires that banks and other issuers disclose the number of requests they have received to buy back troubled assets. Starting in February 2012, the issuers will have to report how many loans they have repurchased, dating back three years.
Geithner Declines First House Republican TARP Hearing
On Wednesday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa invited Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify next week before the Committee regarding the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Geithner declined Issa’s invitation but offered to send in his place Tim Massad, an acting Assistant Treasury Secretary. While Issa could have issued Geithner a subpoena, he instead accepted the offer of Massad’s testimony for next week’s hearing.
(more…)
The conference report of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act includes significant changes to creation and regulation of asset-backed securities (“ABS”) (see Title IX, Subtitle D, starting on page 186 of this PDF version of Title IX). The three most significant areas in the bill deal with (1) risk-retention requirements, (2) disclosure and reporting requirements, and (3) representations and warranties in ABS offerings.
Risk-Retention Requirements
Under the bill, the Federal banking agencies must publish rules to require securitizers of ABS to retain an economic interest in at least 5% of the credit risk for any asset that the securitizer conveys to the a third party. This requirement is intended to keep a securitizer’s “skin in the game,” so that the securitizer has a disincentive to take unnecessary risks. There may be exceptions or exemptions, prescribed by rule or regulation, to this risk-retention requirement for securitizations (i) of “qualified residential mortgages,” when the securitizer certifies to the SEC as to the effectiveness of the securitizer’s internal controls for ensuring that all of the assets are actually qualified residential mortgages, (ii) that are in the public interest and for the protection of investors, (iii) of assets issued or guaranteed by the United States or an agency of the United States (other than Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac), (iv) of assets issued or guaranteed by any state (or political subdivision), which are also exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act, and (v) of other assets, including any loan or other financial asset made, insured, guaranteed, or purchased by an institution that is supervised by the Farm Credit Administration.
On November 25, 2008, Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced the creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (“TALF”). The intent of TALF is to assist the credit markets in meeting the needs of consumers and small businesses by facilitating the issuance of, and improving the market for, asset-backed securities (“ABS”). To fulfill this intent, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“FRBNY”) will provide up to $200 billion for non-recourse loans that are fully secured by eligible ABS. Treasury will use funds from TARP to provide $20 billion in credit protection to the FRBNY.
Collateral eligible for a TALF loan includes dollar-denominated, ABS that not only must receive the highest possible long-term investment rating from at least two nationally recognized ratings agencies but also cannot be rated by any rating agency below the highest possible long-term rating. Newly or recently originated auto loans, student loans, credit card loans, or small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration must comprise all or substantially all of the credit exposure underlying the ABS. The underlying credit exposure cannot include exposures that are themselves cash or synthetic ABS.