Joint Federal Regulators Approve Final Risk Retention Rules

On October 21 and 22, the Fed, HUD, FDIC, FHFA, OCC, and SEC jointly approved final risk retention rules.  The final rules, which implement Section 941 of Dodd Frank, generally follow the re-proposed rules issued in August 2013, mandating that sponsors retain at least 5% of the credit risk in asset-backed securities transactions.  Generally, risk may be retained by holding either a horizontal or a vertical slice of issued securities, while additional options are available for specific types of securitizations.  The rules will apply to residential mortgage-backed securities one year after publication in the Federal Register, and will apply to all other asset classes two years after publication.  Final Rules.  Joint Release.