Currency

Currency is Grant Thornton's electronic newsletter for bank executives. It is published periodically and covers issues and trends in the financial institutions industry.

Private market for mortgage-backed securities shows signs of life

Over the past few years, private investors have lost their collective appetite for most mortgage-backed securities, particularly those in the nonconforming or “jumbo” category (those too large to be guaranteed or secured by a government entity, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). In April 2010, Redwood Trust, a California-based REIT, sponsored a $238 million residential prime jumbo mortgage securitization — the first deal of its kind since August 2008 — and breathed new life into a dormant market. Learn more about this transaction and how it may shape future securitizations.