The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal Wednesday to require new disclosures for asset-backed securities.
Under the proposal, which the Dodd-Frank law required, the SEC would mandate that investors receive information about the presentation and warranties of repurchase histories of ABS to track any underwriting deficiencies.
In agreements governing securities, ABS issuers or loan originators make "representations and warranties" on the quality of those loans. If the loan does not match that representation, an ABS issuer can be required to repurchase the loan from the pool or replace it with another asset.
"Since the financial crisis, many investors and other transaction parties have questioned whether the loans in the bundle meet the characteristics specified by the representations and warranties in transaction agreements, and have been seeking to enforce repurchase provisions," the SEC said in a release.
The SEC proposal would require disclosure of any repurchase history for outstanding ABS, require disclosures of repurchase history for the last three years for ABS of the same class as the securities and ongoing reports on the pool, and disclosure of any accompany credit rating. The proposal is open for comment until Nov. 15.
