On September 12, SFA CEO Michael Bright was featured in an OpEd published by American Banker, discussing the SEC’s proposed rule, aimed at prohibiting conflicts of interest in securitizations. Bright emphasizes the unintended consequences the rule could have on financial markets, if it were adopted as written.

On August 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a final Private Fund Advisers Rule that will significantly increase the compliance obligations of private fund managers in the form of quarterly financial statements to investors, annual audits, and restrictions on certain activities, among other provisions. In line with SFA’s advocacy (see SFA’s initial comment letter in April, 2022, and follow-up letter in June, 2022), the Commission has exempted securitized assets, including collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), from the final rule. SFA commends the Commission for its decision and for recognizing the unique features that make CLOs characteristically different from other private funds that were intended to be the focus of the rule.

On July 27, financial regulators issued the Basel III Regulatory Capital Proposal. The proposal would impose frameworks for greater risk-based capital requirements on banking organizations with total consolidated assets of over $100 billion or more. SFA has formed a task force to respond to the regulators’ proposed rule, aiming to ensure industry concerns are fully considered prior to the release of a final rule.

On Sunday, July 16, SFA CEO Michael Bright discussed how government inflation has eased to 3% on Fox 5 On the Hill.

Structured Finance Association (“SFA”) is now accepting nominations for its Board of Directors. Our annual director rotations will be elected at our upcoming September board meeting. SFA members may nominate themselves or another qualified industry participant from an SFA member firm.* Self-nominations are welcome.

The Structured Finance Association (SFA), a leading trade association representing the structured finance and securitization industry, today announced that Dr. Scott Frame has joined the organization as Chief Economist and Head of MBS Policy. In this role, Dr. Frame will serve as SFA’s principal economist and utilize his years of expertise to provide strategic guidance that drives the association’s economic policy analysis.

On Friday, April 1, SFA CEO Michael Bright discussed Brazil and China forgoing the dollar in favor of their own currencies for bilateral trade on Fox Business.

SFA’s Research Corner considers credit card ABS which, unlike other asset classes, are tied to the prime rate and are particularly sensitive to the Fed’s rate hikes. Credit card debt is nearing a record $1 trillion, up 15% year-over-year. Younger borrowers are mounting debt at nearly twice that rate and also pushing into delinquency at twice the rate for all age groups.

On March 27, SFA submitted a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding their recently re-proposed rule on the “Prohibition of Conflicts of Interest in Securitizations.” In the letter, SFA highlights that with the sweeping scope of the rule, additional work remains to be done to appropriately assess the impact of the proposed rule on financial markets and securitization participants.

The SFA ATR/QM Task Force will work to update the uniform best practice testing standards for performing due diligence on qualified mortgage (QM) loans.