Recent data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) show that U.S home prices soared in January.

The credit card issuer space has been heavily impacted by the pandemic with customer attrition rates falling to record lows. The American Banker writes that across the industry, outstanding balances fell to $820 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from $930 billion a year earlier, as more consumers have paid down their debts and card issuers have become more selective about approving new customers.

The cessation of LIBOR continues within the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities market (RMBS) with the issuance of two new floating rate transactions tethered to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) this month. Rating agency sources say they are the first HELOC and MLI deals to opt for SOFR-benchmarked bonds in the private MBS space.

The Wall Street Journal reports a recent housing boom during the pandemic as more Americans are working from home, noting the differences from the home price appreciation that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.

In March of last year, Congress passed the CARES Act which as a result suspended federal student loan payments. Data from Experian shows that since the onset of the pandemic, student debt growth has grown by 12%. Experian found that new student loan originations saw little growth in 2020.

On February 19, the Federal Reserve (Fed) submitted a monetary policy report to Congress which highlighted economic developments that suggest U.S. businesses could face greater risk of bankruptcy.

SFA’s response to the Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (FIMSAC) recommendation regarding ways to mitigate conflicts on interest in credit ratings focused on 1) enhanced issuer disclosure, 2) increased NRSRO disclosure, 3) bondholder ratification of issuer-selected NRSROs, and 4) our members’ general comments around potential conflicts of interest.

A new report by S&P Global found that year-to-date issuance across the four major sectors (ABS, CLO, CMBS and RMBS) reached $397 billion in October.

New data from S&P Global found that global issuance across the four major sectors (ABS, CLOs, CMBS and RMBS) totaled $54 billion in September bringing year-to-date issuance to $333 billion.

After financial experts warned that the pandemic would cause the CLO market to go through its own crisis because of a wave of rating agency downgrades, new data found that this “wave” turned out to be only a small trickle.