CMSA Conference Included Scant Mention of Covered Bonds

In past entries of a blog focusing on commercial lending, Keith Mullen of the Winstead PC law firm has written favorably about covered bonds as a potential future funding tool in the U.S.  This week, he attended the annual conference of the Commercial Mortgage Lenders Association (CMSA) — held in Washington, DC Jan. 19-20 — and reprised the event.

If you're interested in commercial real estate finance but did not get to DC, here are links to Mullen's recaps: Day One and Day Two.

Although the CMSA is on record as supporting the development of U.S. covered bonds as a potential aid to commercial real estate funding, Mullen reported that this possibility received scant mention during the conference.  Presumably it is still seen as too distant and uncertain at the present time. 

However, at least one expert has noted that if a proposed legislative framework for covered bonds were to become law, covered bonds could become an "important alternative" in financing commercial real estate loans. 

Also, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) specifically referenced benefits to commercial as well as residential real estate funding in a document listing covered bond legislation among the organization's legislative and regulatory priorities for 2010.