Dodd-Frank’s Disclosure Requirements for Asset-Backed Securities

Under the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Act"), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") is tasked with drafting nearly 100 new rules and regulations. Currently on the SEC's plate are regulations related to offerings of Asset-Backed Securities ("ABS"). The core focus of the pertinent portion of the Act (§ 943) is to provide investors in ABS with information to "identify asset originators with clear underwriting deficiencies."1 In furtherance of this objective, Section 943 requires entities that create an ABS ("securitizers") to provide certain information about the entities that originated the loans underlying the ABS ("originators"). Section 943 applies to the following scenario: