Regulatory Legislative and Legal

The latest version of comprehensive U.S. covered bond legislation, H.R. 5823, was reported out of a markup session by a voice vote of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) Wednesday evening (July 28).

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has sent a letter to U.S. House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), urging him to support the revised version of the proposed U.S. Covered Bond Act of 2010 that was introduced in Congress July 22 as H.R. 5823.

A revised version of the proposed U.S. Covered Bond Act of 2010 — introduced July 22 in the House of Representatives as H.R. 5823 — has been scheduled for markup on July 27 by the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC).

"The FDIC is working with lawmakers to draft a new covered-bond bill," according to Asset-Backed Alert (July 2).

The story characterizes the FDIC as supporting development of a covered bond market if its concerns can be met.

"Well, they were in, and then they were out."

That's how a Client Alert from the Morrison & Foerster law firm described the fate of the covered bond provisions that came close — very close — to inclusion in the final version of the financial service reform bill (June 25).

"The outcome: no statutory framework for covered bonds (yet).  Just one vote short."

Just when it seemed relegated to the sidelines, proposed comprehensive U.S. covered bond legislation may be back in the game.

House members of the Conference Committee working toward a compromise with their Senate counterparts on the financial services reform bill voted (June 22) to attach covered bond language to the House's offer.

In an article for Covered Bond Investor™ last year, Tim Skeet of Bank of America Merrill noted the Danes' distinctive place in the world of covered bonds:

An article by Albert Bozzo at CNBC.com cites "some speculation" to the effect that covered bond (CB) legislation could still end up forming part of Congress' big financial reform bill.

Two witnesses testified in favor of covered bonds as a funding tool for commercial real estate at a hearing held by a subcommittee of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee (HFSC).

The hearing was titled "Commercial Real Estate: A Chicago Perspective on Current Market Challenges and Possible Responses."  It was held May 17 by HFSC's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS).

A new document from Standard & Poor's on the United States Covered Bond Act of 2010  (USCBA) — a bill currently pending in Congress — indicates that the rating agency would not necessarily upgrade its categorization of U.S. covered bond programs even if the bill became law.