SFA CEO Michael Bright met with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) during a recent visit to Beijing. Following this meeting, the PBOC reached out to SFA for additional context on a variety of securitization-related questions.

SFA today announced Elen Callahan as Head of Research. In her new role, Ms. Callahan will work closely with SFA leadership to develop and implement a research strategy plan to further the mission and goals of the organization.

SFA is pleased to announce Howard Kaplan and Valerie Kay as the recipients of the 2020 Reggie Imamura Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Structured Finance Industry.

As the Supreme Court agreed to rule on the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau’s (CFPB) “for cause” provision, which requires the President to provide evidence of poor performance before firing a CFPB director, experts debate whether the ruling will have impact on the FHFA.

Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled the government’s “net worth sweep,” or the FHFA’s practice of claiming all GSE profits, to be unconstitutional. Despite this decision, the Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, arguing that the Court of Appeals “erred” in its decision.

The New York Fed and the Treasury Department have proposed publishing compounded SOFR averages that would create benchmarks at 30, 90, and 180 days. Comments on these proposed plans are due December 4th.

Nearly six hundred structured finance market participants attended SFA’s annual Residential Mortgage Finance Symposium in New York City on November 4-5. The program included keynote speakers such as Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria, Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner (SEC) Hester Peirce and recently retired Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI).

Mark Calabria, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), made it clear last Thursday that the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) need to take a look at some of their continued practices in order for the FHFA to feel comfortable releasing them from conservatorship.

On Wednesday, October 30th, the Federal Reserve (Fed) cut interest rates and lowered the federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. This marks the third time since July that the Federal Reserve has lowered their benchmark amid concerns of a slowing economy.

This October, issuance of the Secured Overnight Finance Rate (SOFR), Libor’s planned replacement, dropped to $24.5 billion compared to August’s $56.1 billion total issuance.