CREF Highlights: CREF16 Convention – Early Registration Deadline Approaching
The MBA’s CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando is a must-attend event, offering unrivaled access to leaders, CEOs and experts in commercial/multifamily real estate finance.
Early registration ends on December 14. If you haven’t registered yet, registration is available by clicking here.
Federal Government Funding Status
The Senate Appropriations Committee released a revised FY2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill shortly before Thanksgiving. The Senate had planned to vote on the measure before departing for the holiday. Although that vote did not occur due to a dispute over an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., regarding Syrian refugees, MBA expects that the increased funding levels contained in the revised HUD appropriations bill will ultimately ease its passage through Congress–most likely as part of an omnibus appropriations bill in December.
Under the current Continuing Resolution, federal funding runs out on December 11.
Please contact Len Wolfson at lwolfson@mba.org for more information.
MBA Participates in Coalition to Raise Concerns About Structured Securities Trading Book Proposal
On November 12, MBA joined six trade associations to express strong concerns regarding the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Fundamental Review of the Trading Book rules that would negatively impact securitized products in the United States.
The FRTB proposal would dramatically increase capital requirements for bank trading book activities for structured securities, including CMBS. Some industry analysis indicates that the FRTB proposal would make secondary trading in securitized products unprofitable for broker-dealers. The coalition letter strongly recommends that substantial modifications be made to the FTRB proposal in advance of the U.S. regulatory agency consideration of these rules in order to avoid negative impacts on the U.S. market.
For more information, please contact George Green at ggreen@mba.org.
MBA Files Letter on SEC/FINRA Proposed Margin Rule; Regulators Issue Extension
On November 6, MBA met with senior SEC staff on the multifamily implications of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s proposed margin requirements.
MBA subsequently filed a comment letter on the proposal and spearheaded a coalition letter with 14 other national trade associations. In response to MBA and member feedback, FINRA sent a request to the SEC late on November 10 to extend the time period for SEC action on the proposed rule to January 15, 2016. This will in our view provide a more deliberative review of the detrimental impacts of the proposal on the multifamily market.
HUD Multifamily Underwriting “MAP” Guide Status
MBA anticipates that HUD’s final MAP Guide (governing the FHA multifamily underwriting requirements) will be issued by year-end or early in 2016. The draft MAP Guide was released for public comment in late February.
While the new MAP Guide is expected to streamline program requirements and permit additional flexibility, several areas of concern remain, which MBA has raised at multiple levels at HUD, including certain replacement reserve requirements.
Please contact Eileen Grey at egrey@mba.org for more information.
MBA Accounting and Financial Management Conference
Nearly 450 members attended MBA’s annual Accounting and Financial Management Conference in New Orleans, which included a track dedicated to issues in commercial/multifamily real estate finance.
At the event, Matt Esposito, assistant technical director of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, told the group to expect final standards to be issued by year end or early in 2016 for classification and measurement of financial instruments, credit impairment, and accounting for leases.
If you have any questions, please contact Jim Gross at jgross@mba.org or Jamie Woodwell at jwoodwell@mba.org.
