Office of the Undersecretary for Domestic Finance, Department of the Treasury.
Notice and Request for Information.
Consistent with the Obama Administration's commitment to openness and transparency and the President's Open Government Initiative, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is seeking public input on the
Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this notice according to the instructions for “Electronic Submission of Comments” below. All submissions must refer to this document. Treasury encourages the early submission of comments.
For general inquiries, submission process questions or any additional information, please call 202–622–2108. All responses to this Notice and Request for Information should be submitted via
Treasury is seeking public comment on the following questions:
1. What is the appropriate role for new issue PLS in the current and future housing finance system? What is the appropriate interaction between the guaranteed and non-guaranteed market segments? Are there particular segments of the mortgage market where PLS can or should be most active and competitive in providing a channel for funding mortgage credit?
2. What are the key obstacles to the growth of the PLS market? How would you address these obstacles? What are the existing market failures? What are necessary conditions for securitizers and investors to return at scale?
3. How should new issue PLS support safe and sound market practices?
4. What are the costs and benefits of various methods of investor protection? In particular, please address the costs and benefits of requiring the trustee to have a fiduciary duty to investors or requiring an independent collateral manager to oversee issuances.
5. What is the appropriate or necessary role for private industry participants to address the factors cited in your answer to Question #2? What can private market participants undertake either as part of industry groups or independently?
6. What is the appropriate or necessary role for government in addressing the key factors cited in your answer to Question #2? What actions could government agencies take? Are there actions that require legislation?
7. What are the current pricing characteristics of PLS issuance (both on a standalone basis and relative to other mortgage finance channels)? How might the pricing characteristics change should key challenges be addressed? What is the current and potential demand from investors should key challenges be addressed?
8. Why have we seen strong issuance and investor demand for other types of asset-backed securitizations (e.g., securitizations of commercial real estate, leveraged loans, and auto loans) but not residential mortgages? Do these or other asset classes offer insights that can help inform the development of market practices and standards in the new issue PLS market?
9. Is there any additional information regarding the PLS market not already addressed that you would like to provide?