The company said restatements are due to an error in the GAAP accounting treatment for certain of the company's assets -- specifically, credit risk transfer securities issued by government-sponsored enterprises (GSE CRTs) and
interest-only strips of residential mortgage-backed securities that are guaranteed by a US government agency (Agency MBS IOs).
Expect to see more innovation in products in the ETF space that navigate interest rate risks, including those that utilize
interest-only strips that can provide income with a negative duration.
(6) The first is credit-enhancing,
interest-only strips. Schedule HC-S instructions define these strips as:
The guidance addresses the risk-based capital treatment for (1) split or partially rated instruments, (2) nonqualification of corporate bonds or other securities for the ratings-based approach, (3) spread accounts that function as credit-enhancing
interest-only strips, (4) audits of internal credit risk rating systems, and (5) cleanup calls.
Since these residuals, called retained
interest-only strips, are reported on a bank's balance sheet, they overstate the bank's book value if they are overvalued.
For example, the inherent risk for valuation assertions based on assumptions about debt securities whose value fluctuates with changes in prepayments (for example,
interest-only strips) increases as the expected holding period lengthens.
Interest-only strips, loans or other receivables, or retained interest in securities that can conceptually be prepaid or otherwise settled in such a way that the holder would not recover substantially all of its recorded investment, should be subsequently measured like investments in debt securities classified as available-for-sale or trading securities under FASB 115.
By the beginning of this year, OAC had originated commercial real estate construction and rehabilitation loans, closing transactions totaling $57.5 million with fundings of $9.5 million; acquired a portfolio of residential
interest-only strip and inverse
interest-only strips (together, IOs), which had a carrying value of $44.5 million; acquired a portfolio of commercial
interest-only strips totaling $6.2 million, plus a number of other assorted deals.
Some of these REITs also are investors in
interest-only strips, which plummet in value in high prepayment situations.
These losses followed earlier reports of public investors who failed to follow diversification practices and invested the majority of their portfolios in risky instruments, such as principal-only or
interest-only strips.
The guidance addresses risk-based capital treatment pertaining to (1) split or partially rated instruments, (2) nonqualification of corporate bonds or other securities for the ratings-based approach, (3) spread accounts that function as credit-enhancing
interest-only strips, (4) audits of internal credit-risk rating systems, and (5) cleanup calls.
The final rule also imposes a "dollar-for-dollar" capital charge on residual interests and a concentration limit on credit-enhancing
interest-only strips, a subset of residual interests.
