Checking in on September 11, 2012

Today marks my fourth year writing this blog.

I started CMBS 2.0 to provide an insider’s perspective on how financial reform plays out in the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) industry. My first post was on September 11, 2008, right before Lehman crashed, and I closely followed the passage of Dodd Frank in 2010. I assumed by now I’d be writing about how the new rules are working, but they they still haven’t been finalized.

From what I’m hearing, the risk retention rules are to be finalized in first quarter 2013, and REG AB changes should be finalized by mid 2013.

So on we go.

MISMO

Things have been quiet on the Commercial Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization front, although there are signs that things may get active again soon (I serve as co-chair of C-MISMO).

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which owns MISMO, has been very active in its lobbying efforts throughout the financial crisis, focusing primarily on the residential side of the business and the future of Fannie and Freddie.

We learned in our August board meeting that regulators are finally getting serious about making decisions — and that the MBA is pushing them to use MISMO standards as the foundation for the regulatory reporting requirements. This makes sense because residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) is the biggest asset class the regulators are dealing with, and MISMO is by far the most widely adopted standard in the residential space.

Next week in Washington, DC I’m attending a joint dinner with the leadership of MBA, Residential MISMO and Commercial MISMO. The various people working on standards will meet each other and hear the latest regulator thinking regarding the content and timing of the upcoming rules.

Check out September 2012 Trimester Meeting: MISMO’s Educational Summit and Workshop

September 11

I always make a point to remember 9/11/2001, and this year is no different. However, it is much more low key this year than last, mostly because of all the 10-year anniversary events happening last year and the fact that another year has passed. My 9/11 story was chronicled in my first blog post: The history of Backshop and CMBS.com

Never forget.

CMBS Strong start for Fall

The first CMBS deal of September achieved the best 10-year-bond pricing since February 2011, which bodes well for the pipeline for the second part of this year. If the market stays strong, total issuance for 2012 could reach $40 billion, up from last year and better than my prediction of $35 billion. Fingers crossed that the market stays lively and we finish the year strong.

On the company side, we had a busy summer focused mostly on our enterprise clients, and we are already pushing into our fall initiatives. We will focus on adding features and functions to CMBS.com and the Pro product.

On the Rock side, I caught Metallica at the Outside Lands Music festival in August. Enjoy:

Ecstasy of Gold – Metallica – Outside Lands 2012

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Jim Flaherty is CEO of CMBS.com and the creator of the Backshop loan origination system. He is a trained credit professional with experience installing enterprise underwriting systems for commercial real estate lenders, rating agencies and investors.