Industry standards – Page 2

Reg AB II is not almost here

February 8, 2014/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The SEC pulled Reg AB II rule-making from the Feb. 5 agenda.

So nothing happened. There’s no word on why it was pulled or when we will hear back.

Regulation AB II is almost here!

February 1, 2014/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The SEC announced that on Feb. 5 they will propose final changes to loan level data disclosures for all asset backed securities including CMBS. This rule, known as Reg AB II, is an update to the original Reg AB that governed securitization rules during the financial crisis.

C-MISMO standards coming this month

October 1, 2013/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

It’s been a housekeeping month with MISMO as we get ready to re-introduce and formally approve the rent roll and operating statement standards.

CREFC, IRP and regulatory updates

February 8, 2013/0 Comments/in Industry standards /by jimflaherty

CREFC is cautious but upbeat, the IRP Committee wants to skip IRP 6, and the Regulatory Committee is moving toward smart compromise.

Reg AB II Responses Submitted to SEC

October 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The public comments on the SEC re-proposed rules for issuing asset backed securities including CMBS, known as Reg AB II, were due this week. The SEC received comments from 23 different companies and trade groups, including one from me.

See all responses : See my response

MISMO dinner: Talking about tipping points

September 26, 2012/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

I attended a dinner last week with the joint leadership of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO). Attendees came from the residential mortgage business, the commercial mortgage business and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA, which owns and manages MISMO). I was invited because I serve as co-chair of the board for the Commercial Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (known as cMISMO).

Strong start for CMBS in 2012

February 24, 2012/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The first CMBS deals of 2012 have priced well, and interest rates being quoted by the conduit shops are now sub 5 percent for high quality CMBS loans. Investor demand has been strong enough to allow the originators to offer rates that start with a 4.

That makes CMBS more attractive vs. other loan products and supports positive momentum for a successful year. The market is on pace to reach $35 billion — and there is more and more talk of doing substantially better than that.

Reg AB II Responses Submitted to SEC

October 7, 2011/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The public comments on the SEC re-proposed rules for issuing asset backed securities including CMBS, known as Reg AB II, were due this week. The SEC received comments from 23 different companies and trade groups, including one from me.

See all responses : See my response

MBS Taking Back MISMO Management

September 28, 2011/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced it will take back management of MISMO from MERS Corp effective December 1, 2011.

MISMO has always been a wholly owned, not-for-profit subsidiary of the MBA but, back in February 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis, the MBA transferred management of MISMO to MERS as a cost-cutting effort.

MERS has successfully managed MISMO, especially as it relates to adoption in the residential mortgage world. Now the MBA wants management back.

According to the MBA, the decision to take back MISMO management was driven largely by the success of MISMO in the residential business and the belief that MISMO standards will (or at least could) form the foundation of the anticipated new regulatory reporting requirements. Since the MBA has a strong government lobbying group, it felt it could do a better job convincing regulators to adopt MISMO standards, as opposed to having the government create new standards.

David Stevens, CEO of the MBA, stated in the press release (download press release here) that:

“Due to changes in the regulatory environment over the last two years, the benefit of implementing data standards across the real estate finance industry has never been greater. Significant new reporting requirements highlight the need for a common vocabulary and data exchange mechanism. The continued enhancement of data standards and transparency are critical to the return of investor confidence and liquidity in our marketplace. MBA will continue to encourage regulators to adopt MISMO standards for regulatory reporting.”

The move suggests the MBA is betting regulators will demand XML reporting — and they want to strongly influence how this is done. If the MBA really throws its full support behind MISMO adoption, and the regulators embrace those standards, the bet may pay off.

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Jim Flaherty is CEO of CMBS.com and the creator of the Backshop loan origination system. He is a trained credit professional with experience installing enterprise underwriting systems for commercial real estate lenders, rating agencies and investors.

www.cmbs.com

Reg AB II Movement

August 29, 2011/0 Comments/in Industry news, Industry standards /by jimflaherty

The SEC recently “re-proposed” for public comment proposed new rules for asset backed securitization eligibility that has come to be known as Reg AB II. These proposed rules suggest changes to the current securitization regulations and cover multiple reforms on everything from asset-level disclosures on both public and private deals, to the role of the rating agencies, to adding a risk retention requirement, and several other steps that would be required for issuers to sell asset backed securities (including CMBS).

The SEC initially proposed these changes back in April 2010. The two major trade groups (the MBA and CREFC) spent the summer of 2010 preparing a regulatory response that was submitted on August 2, 2010.

Since that time, the SEC has stayed basically silent on this issue. The only reports I heard were they wanted to wait until after the risk retention rules are finalized to implement the rest of the securitization changes. In the “re-proposal” the SEC made it clear it was sticking with asset-level disclosures, but they also stated no final decision has been made regarding the specific data elements that will be disclosed.

Responses to the “re-proposed” rules are due to the SEC by October 4, 2011. Both the MBA and CREFC plan to submit responses. However, since the “re-proposal” does not specifically ask many new questions regarding CMBS, both trade groups are basically just re-submitting what they stated last August.

It looks like the risk retention issues will be finalized this fall, and the SEC wants to be ready to release the remaining securitization changes shortly thereafter. The fact that they have “re-proposed” their rules suggests that we may finally get clarity on the SEC’s vision of CMBS 2.0.

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Jim Flaherty is CEO of CMBS.com and the creator of the Backshop loan origination system. He is a trained credit professional with experience installing enterprise underwriting systems for commercial real estate lenders, rating agencies and investors.

www.cmbs.com