Single Security Initiative (UMBS) Best Practices
Overview
This document applies to all releases of Eagle software V13 and above. Version-dependent functionality is noted with the initial release(s) it became available. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to Eagle clients on processing the Single Security Initiative, specific to US government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Please note that there may be unique workflow considerations that need to be addressed based on your specific accounting requirements. This document does not provide recommendations on tax accounting treatment or TBA (To Be Announced) workflows.
The Single Security Initiative is a joint endeavor of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop a common, standardized MBS. This initiative is part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) strategic mandate to combine the separate TBA markets of the GSE’s, and create a larger uniform market that is more liquid and efficient. These new MBS are called Uniform Mortgage-Back Securities (UMBS) and/or Supers. The goal is to eliminate trade disparities between GSE pooled mortgage-back securities by aligning key security characteristics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS. The implementation date for the Single Security Initiative is June 3, 2019. Starting on this date, holders of Fannie Mae TBA-eligible MBS and Freddie Mac GOLD PC MBS are eligible to take part in a voluntary exchange. To assist holders of legacy positions, Freddie Mac began issuing “mirror” securities in August 2018 to allow investors to exchange their legacy Freddie Mac 45-day PC’s for Freddie Mac 55-day mirror securities.
On this page
Eagle recommends processing these events as exchange offers. There is also a minimal cash settlement along with the exchange, which represents the time-value difference in delay days between the parent and new security, called Float Compensation.
Investors will be able to exchange 45-day PC’s for 55-day mirror securities backed by the same loan pool
This is open to holders of TBA and non-TBA PCs
The exchange is voluntary, and as of May 2019, there is no official end to the exchange offer
Freddie Mac will compensate holders for the 10 day payment delay difference between the 2 securities
A http://www.freddiemac.com/mbs/exchange/grids.html calculator is available from Freddie Mac and is updated daily
Exchange will be treated as non-taxable by the IRS
There has been no official ruling on the taxability of the Float Compensation as of July 2019
All newly issued UMBS will follow the current labeling conventions of Fannie Mae MBS (pool prefixes and TBA CUSIP)
Bloomberg provides four new data fields as part of the Single Security Initiative:
UNIFORM_MBS_LEGACY_POOL_NUMBER (DW111): tracks legacy security reference pool in Mirror UMBS
UNIFORM_MBS_LEGACY_POOL_CUSIP (DW112): tracks legacy security reference CUSIP in Mirror UMBS
FANNIE_MAE_ISSUER_CONCENTRATION (DW121): percentage of underlying loan pools from Fannie Mae
FREDDIE_MAC_ISSUER_CONCENTRATION (DW122): percentage of underlying loan pools from Freddie Mac
Since all features of the UMBS mimic features of Fannie Mae MBS, outstanding Fannie Mae MBS will not need to be exchanged to be fungible with the new UMBS securities
From a GAAP perspective, Freddie Mac has received accounting guidance from the SEC that it would treat the exchange as a minor modification, using the cost basis of the legacy security to establish the new security
The resulting Float Compensation will be treated as a cost basis adjustment on the new security
Visit the Freddie Mac and/or Fannie Mae websites for more details:
Entity Setup
There are three fields at the accounting basis level specific to MBS.
Gain Loss on Paydown (1871, required): determines whether treatment of gain/loss resulting from paydown transactions is posted as
Gain/Loss
orAmortization
Paydown Gain Loss Account (4519): determines whether general ledger posting for gain/loss on paydowns to hit
Capital
orIncome
(required if Gain Loss on Paydown set toGain/Loss
)Principal Loss on Paydown Processing Flag (2925): allows alternate methods of posting a loss on a paydown transaction (default =
Realized Gain/Loss
)
Please refer to the Fixed Income Processing User Guide 2015 for more details on the implications of these fields.
Reference Data
Storage & Configuration
A voluntary Exchange Offer corporate action announcement is required to exchange the legacy MBS to a Fannie Mae or new UMBS. Setting up the corporate action record as voluntary will allow you to select the specific entities opting to process the exchange. If all held positions of the legacy security/CUSIP are being exchanged, then the corporate action can be applied as mandatory. To facilitate the exchange, the "new" UMBS fungible security needs to be created in Eagle prior to creating the corporate action announcement.
Security Data
Reference data attributes of the "new" security generally match the parent security except for the payment Delay Days (1799), which is changing from 14
to 24
. The list below shows the minimum required fields to create an MBS.
New Security
Issue Name (961)
Primary Asset ID Type (1432): typically
CUSIP
Primary Asset ID (14):
313
XXXXXXProcessing Security Type (3931) =
DBFBFB
Issue Country (2290):
United States
Asset Currency (85):
USD
Issue Tax Type (668):
US
or applicable country codePrimary Exchange (17): typically
OTC
Coupon (70): fixed coupon of the MBS
Coupon Type (97) =
(F) Fixed
Day Count Basis (471):
30/360
Payment Frequency (2287):
1_M (Monthly)
Delay Days (1799):
24
Delay Days Type (5074): NULL or
Calendar
(produces same result)Issue Price (69):
100
Issue Date (68): earliest allowable Trade Date for the MBS
Dated Date (1183): "Interest Accrual Date" from Bloomberg
First Coupon Date (473): "1st Coupon Date" from Bloomberg
Last Coupon Date (473): populate with the penultimate coupon date
Maturity Date (38)
Maturity Price (42) =
100
Trading Flat (3949) =
No
Zero Coupon Indicator (1300) =
No
Market Data
MBS factors need to be sourced and stored as Final Factor corporate action announcement records. The initial factor at trade time can be added directly through Book Trade by changing the default value of 1.00
to the current month's factor prior to submitting the trade. The list below contains all fields required to create a Final Factor corporate action announcement.
Asset ID (14)
Sweep Date (1197): date corporate action is to be applied; typically same as Effective Date
Effective Date (65): trade date of the factor (same as ex-date); typically the first of the month
Corporate Action Status (54): set to
Released
when ready to applyCorporate Action Sub Priority (3961): defaults to 1; used for sequencing order of corporate actions when multiple records exist for the same security/ex-date
Mandatory/Voluntary Indicator (1734) =
Mandatory
Factor Rate (1696): enter monthly factor
Corporate Action Type (1728) =
Factor
Trade Processing
There is no change to the trade processing workflow as a result of this initiative. There should also be no change to your current TBA workflow.
Exchange Processing
Eagle recommends processing a voluntary non-taxable Exchange Offer with cash to convert legacy MBS into the new fungible Fannie Mae and/or UMBS. Please note that the Exchange can be applied as mandatory if all positions are being transferred to the new security, otherwise process as voluntary. The legacy MBS will be exchanged for a new MBS and an additional cash receivable that represents the Float Compensation. The cash payment will be spawned from the parent security and reflected as a cost basis decrease on the new security. This cash receivable can be posted via the Rate of Action (Cash) (1692) field on the Exchange Offer corporate action announcement panel. Use the http://www.freddiemac.com/mbs/exchange/grids.html calculator on Freddie Mac's website to calculate the correct amount. The result is considered an estimate, however, running the tool within a few days of settlement should yield accurate results. The actual will not be confirmed until Freddie Mac settles the transaction.
Once the exchange has been applied, the parent position's Original Face/Current Face is reduced to 0 and a position in the new security is established. The new position will reflect a reduction in Amortized Cost by the amount of Float Compensation when compared to the parent security.
Exchange Offer Required Fields
This list includes some optional fields as well for informational purposes.
From Asset ID (14): parent security's ID
From Post Action Price (369): populate with most recent price of parent security
Not used when Share Taxability (3960) =
No
Sweep Date (1197): date corporate action is to be applied; typically same as Ex Date
Ex Date (65): trade date of the exchange
Record Date (1694): optional
Announcement Date (1260): optional
Pay Date (1275): typically Ex Date + 2
If populated, this will be the Settlement Date and interest accrual end date of the Exchange Offer transaction
If not populated, Settlement Date will default to Ex Date
Required if Rate of Action (Cash) (1692) > 0.00
Treatment of Interest Indicator (1709): defaults to
Transfer
Corporate Action Status (54): set to
Released
when ready to applyCorporate Action Sub Priority (3961): defaults to 1; used for sequencing order of corporate actions when multiple records exist for the same security/ex-date
Share Taxability =
No
(holding period and lot integrity from parent security are propagated to new security)Mandatory/Voluntary Indicator(1734) =
Voluntary
Cost/Proceed Flag (1715): defaults to
Proceed
Exchange Offer Type (2291): defaults to
Price
Rate of Action (Cash) (1692): populate with Float Compensation / Current Face of new security (between 0 and 1.00)
Example: 300 Float Compensation / 900,000 Current Face =
0.0003333333
Cash Taxability (3963) =
No
Cash Currency (3962) =
USD
To Asset ID (1348): new security's ID
To Post Action Price (319): populate with most recent price of parent security
Not used when Share Taxability =
No
Rate of Action (1101) = enter
1.00
to exchange 1:1Corporate Action Type (1728) =
Exchange Offer
Add Voluntary Corporate Action Election
Skip this step if Corporate Action record established as Mandatory
Start by querying for voluntary corporate action records.
Asset ID (14): parent security's ID
Voluntary Corporate Action Begin Date (71): populate with ex-date, or an earlier date to query a range
Voluntary Corporate Action End Date (73): populate with ex-date, or a later date to query a range
Click Submit
Select the appropriate record(s), then click Add Entity Election Detail and populate the next screen as shown below.
Entity ID (1163): fund that has elected the exchange
Elected Shares Percent (1001) = 100; resulting value in panel will be 1.00
Entity Election Status (54) =
Released
Click Submit to confirm the entity's eligibility for the voluntary exchange
Global Processing
Open Global Processes/Process Center > Corporate Actions > Exchange Offer.
Select Query Option (2283):
All Entities/One Security
orOne Entity/One Security
Asset ID (14): parent security's ID
Corporate Action Begin Sweep Date (220)
Corporate Action End Sweep Date (221)
Click Submit to apply the voluntary exchange to all entities that have opted in
All financial details from the parent security will propagate to the new security
Cancel & Rebook
Use Cancel Corporate Action (One Portfolio) if action has already been applied to the position. If you need to replay a voluntary corporate action, you must re-elect the holding entity participation via Add Voluntary Corporate Action Election.
Use Cancel Global Corporate Action Announcements if action has been scheduled, but not yet applied.
Alternate Processing
To accommodate clients that require alternate processing, possibly due to unique accounting requirements or processing constraints, this activity can also be applied using the substitute methods below.
In lieu of processing the Exchange Offer corporate action, you can use free Deliver/Receive transactions
The parent security should be delivered off the fund and new security received on with no impact to cash
The new security can be applied with a haircut/decrease to cost by the amount of the Float Compensation
In lieu of using Rate of Action (Cash) on the Exchange Offer corporate action, you can post a miscellaneous income entry for the Float Compensation
The amount will be reflected in the current period's income balance and settled as a separate entry to cash
If Exchange Offer corporate action was applied, ensure Rate of Action (Cash) = NULL on the announcement
Note: a Rec/Pay Event may need to be configured in order to post this entry to the desired Income and Receivable accounts
Rec/Pay Events allow you to make cost, cash, and income adjustments that affect Accounting (including the ledger) and flow to Data Management
A Cost Basis Adjustment or Impairment can be applied to record the Float Compensation
The adjustment has to be configured in a manner to allow for cash settlement
Because these adjustments do not generate a cash settlement, a second entry between receivable and cash will also be required
Once the Rec/Pay Event has been configured, the entries can be posted via Cost Basis Adjustment and Post Misc. Income - Asset Specific (V17)/Post Miscellaneous Income, Asset Specific (prior to V17)
Known Issues
Reporting: interest amounts between parent and new security may be incorrect on the Consolidated Earned Income Report when comparing total income between the parent and new security.
Amortization: there may be exceptions on the Ledger Subledger Reconciliation Report for amortization between the parent and new security due to the exchange; a yield recalculation may occur on Ex Date +1 by the amount of the Float Compensation
Amortization Yield: the Exchange Offer corporate action will always process the yield recalculation retrospectively, regardless of the retrospective/prospective election on the amortization/accretion rule (SDP-25488)
Stale Factor Processing: if Stale Factor Processing (8141) =
Yes
at the entity level, there may be rollback/replay issues with re-establishing the updated position once the exchange is processed (SDP-25006: fixed in 2015 R2.36 and above)