MBS and CRT Securities

Agency and Non-Agency MBS

The Company’s MBS are comprised of Agency MBS and Non-Agency MBS which include MBS issued prior to 2008 (“Legacy Non-Agency MBS”). These MBS are secured by: (i) hybrid mortgages (“Hybrids”), which have interest rates that are fixed for a specified period of time and, thereafter, generally adjust annually to an increment over a specified interest rate index; (ii) adjustable-rate mortgages (“ARMs”); (iii) mortgages that have interest rates that reset more frequently (collectively, “ARM-MBS”); and (iv) 15 year and longer-term fixed rate mortgages. In addition, the Company also holds MBS that are structured with a contractual coupon step-up feature where the coupon increases up to 300 basis points at 36 months from issuance or sooner (“3 Year Step-up securities”). The majority of the Company’s 3 Year Step-up securities are backed by securitized re-performing and non-performing loans and the cash flows of the bond may not reflect the contractual cash flows of the underlying collateral.

The Company pledges a significant portion of its MBS as collateral against its borrowings under repurchase agreements, FHLB advances and Swaps. Non-Agency MBS that were accounted for as components of Linked Transactions prior to 2015 are not reflected in the tables for prior periods set forth in this note, as they were accounted for as derivatives. New accounting guidance that was effective for the Company on January 1, 2015 prospectively eliminated the use of Linked Transaction accounting. (See Note 5(b))

Agency MBS: Agency MBS are guaranteed as to principal and/or interest by a federally chartered corporation, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or an agency of the U.S. Government, such as Ginnie Mae. The payment of principal and/or interest on Ginnie Mae MBS is explicitly backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. Since the third quarter of 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which significantly strengthened the backing for these government-sponsored entities.

Non-Agency MBS (including Non-Agency MBS transferred to consolidated VIEs): The Company’s Non-Agency MBS are primarily secured by pools of residential mortgages, which are not guaranteed by an agency of the U.S. Government or any federally chartered corporation. Credit risk associated with Non-Agency MBS is regularly assessed as new information regarding the underlying collateral becomes available and based on updated estimates of cash flows generated by the underlying collateral.

CRT Securities

CRT securities are debt obligations issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While the coupon payments are paid by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on a monthly basis, the payment of principal is dependent on the performance of loans in a reference pool of MBS securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. As principal on loans in the reference pool are paid, principal payments on the securities are made and the principal balances of the securities are reduced. Consequently, CRT securities mirror the payment and prepayment behavior of the mortgage loans in the reference pool. As an investor in a CRT security, the Company may incur a loss if certain defined credit events occur, including, for certain CRT securities, if the loans in the reference pool experience delinquencies exceeding specified thresholds. The Company assesses the credit risk associated with CRT securities by assessing the current and expected future performance of the associated reference pool. The Company pledges a significant portion of its CRT securities as collateral against its borrowings under repurchase agreements. CRT securities that were accounted for as components of Linked Transactions prior to 2015 are not reflected in the tables for prior periods set forth in this note, as they were accounted for as derivatives. (See Note 5(b))

The following tables present certain information about the Company’s MBS and CRT securities at December 31, 2016 and 2015:

December 31, 2016



(In Thousands)	Principal/ Current Face		Purchase Premiums		Accretable Purchase Discounts			Discount Designated as Credit Reserve and OTTI (1)			Amortized Cost (2)		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Net Unrealized Gain/(Loss)
Agency MBS:
Fannie Mae	$	2,879,807	$	108,310	$	(51	)	$	—		$	2,988,066	$	3,014,464	$	45,706	$	(19,308	)	$	26,398
Freddie Mac	693,945		26,736		—			—			723,285		716,209		4,809		(11,885		)	(7,076		)
Ginnie Mae	7,550		136		—			—			7,686		7,824		138		—			138
Total Agency MBS	3,581,302		135,182		(51		)	—			3,719,037		3,738,497		50,653		(31,193		)	19,460
Non-Agency MBS:
Expected to Recover Par (3)(4)	2,847,398		57		(24,273		)	—			2,823,182		2,847,291		26,477		(2,368		)	24,109
Expected to Recover Less than Par (3)	3,359,200		—		(253,918		)	(694,241		)	2,411,041		2,978,525		570,318		(2,834		)	567,484
Total Non-Agency MBS (5)	6,206,598		57		(278,191		)	(694,241		)	5,234,223		5,825,816		596,795		(5,202		)	591,593
Total MBS	9,787,900		135,239		(278,242		)	(694,241		)	8,953,260		9,564,313		647,448		(36,395		)	611,053
CRT securities (6)	384,993		3,312		(5,557		)	—			382,748		404,850		22,105		(3		)	22,102
Total MBS and CRT securities	$	10,172,893	$	138,551	$	(283,799	)	$	(694,241	)	$	9,336,008	$	9,969,163	$	669,553	$	(36,398	)	$	633,155

December 31, 2015



(In Thousands)	Principal/ Current Face		Purchase Premiums		Accretable Purchase Discounts			Discount Designated as Credit Reserve and OTTI (1)			Amortized Cost (2)		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Net Unrealized Gain/(Loss)
Agency MBS:
Fannie Mae	$	3,690,020	$	139,243	$	(59	)	$	—		$	3,829,204	$	3,865,485	$	62,111	$	(25,830	)	$	36,281
Freddie Mac	851,087		32,680		—			—			884,798		877,109		6,906		(14,595		)	(7,689		)
Ginnie Mae	9,296		164		—			—			9,460		9,650		190		—			190
Total Agency MBS	4,550,403		172,087		(59		)	—			4,723,462		4,752,244		69,207		(40,425		)	28,782
Non-Agency MBS:
Expected to Recover Par (3)(4)	2,906,878		73		(31,576		)	—			2,875,375		2,878,532		23,300		(20,143		)	3,157
Expected to Recover Less than Par (3)	4,054,615		—		(280,606		)	(787,541		)	2,986,468		3,542,285		564,031		(8,214		)	555,817
Total Non-Agency MBS (5)	6,961,493		73		(312,182		)	(787,541		)	5,861,843		6,420,817		587,331		(28,357		)	558,974
Total MBS	11,511,896		172,160		(312,241		)	(787,541		)	10,585,305		11,173,061		656,538		(68,782		)	587,756
CRT securities	192,000		—		(5,689		)	—			186,311		183,582		418		(3,147		)	(2,729		)
Total MBS and CRT securities	$	11,703,896	$	172,160	$	(317,930	)	$	(787,541	)	$	10,771,616	$	11,356,643	$	656,956	$	(71,929	)	$	585,027

(1) Discount designated as Credit Reserve and amounts related to OTTI are generally not expected to be accreted into interest income. Amounts disclosed at December 31, 2016 reflect Credit Reserve of $675.6 million and OTTI of $18.6 million. Amounts disclosed at December 31, 2015 reflect Credit Reserve of $766.0 million and OTTI of $21.5 million.

(2) Includes principal payments receivable of $2.6 million and $1.0 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, which are not included in the Principal/Current Face.

(3) Based on management’s current estimates of future principal cash flows expected to be received.

(4) At December 31, 2016, 3 Year Step-up securities had a $2.7 billion Principal/Current face, $2.7 billion amortized cost and $2.7 billion fair value. At December 31, 2015, 3 Year Step-up securities had a $2.6 billion Principal/Current face, $2.6 billion amortized cost and $2.6 billion fair value.

(5) At December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company expected to recover approximately 89% and 89%, respectively, of the then-current face amount of Non-Agency MBS.

(6) Amounts disclosed at December 31, 2016 includes CRT securities with a fair value of $271.2 million for which the fair value option has been elected. Such securities had gross unrealized gains of approximately $12.7 million and net unrealized losses of approximately $3,000 at December 31, 2016. Amounts disclosed at December 31, 2015 includes CRT securities with a fair value of $62.2 million for which the fair value option has been elected. Such securities had gross unrealized gains of approximately $332,000, gross unrealized losses of approximately $555,000 and net unrealized losses of approximately $223,000 at December 31, 2015.

Unrealized Losses on MBS and CRT Securities

The following table presents information about the Company’s MBS and CRT securities that were in an unrealized loss position at December 31, 2016:



	Unrealized Loss Position For:
	Less than 12 Months					12 Months or more					Total
(Dollars in Thousands)	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
Agency MBS:
Fannie Mae	$	380,834	$	3,207	76	$	933,019	$	16,101	156	$	1,313,853	$	19,308
Freddie Mac	276,595		4,838		47	248,498		7,047		65	525,093		11,885
Total Agency MBS	657,429		8,045		123	1,181,517		23,148		221	1,838,946		31,193
Non-Agency MBS:
Expected to Recover Par (1)	691,114		1,426		19	196,431		942		14	887,545		2,368
Expected to Recover Less than Par (1)	37,344		310		8	94,320		2,524		14	131,664		2,834
Total Non-Agency MBS	728,458		1,736		27	290,751		3,466		28	1,019,209		5,202
Total MBS	1,385,887		9,781		150	1,472,268		26,614		249	2,858,155		36,395
CRT securities (2)	2,503		3		1	—		—		—	2,503		3
Total MBS and CRT securities	$	1,388,390	$	9,784	151	$	1,472,268	$	26,614	249	$	2,860,658	$	36,398

(1) Based on management’s current estimates of future principal cash flows expected to be received.

(2) Amounts disclosed at December 31, 2016 includes CRT securities with a fair value of $2.5 million for which the fair value option has been elected. Such securities have unrealized losses of $3,000 at December 31, 2016.

At December 31, 2016, the Company did not intend to sell any of its investments that were in an unrealized loss position, and it is “more likely than not” that the Company will not be required to sell these securities before recovery of their amortized cost basis, which may be at their maturity.

Gross unrealized losses on the Company’s Agency MBS were $31.2 million at December 31, 2016. Agency MBS are issued by Government Sponsored Entities (“GSEs”) and enjoy either the implicit or explicit backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. While the Company’s Agency MBS are not rated by any rating agency, they are currently perceived by market participants to be of high credit quality, with risk of default limited to the unlikely event that the U.S. Government would not continue to support the GSEs. Given the credit quality inherent in Agency MBS, the Company does not consider any of the current impairments on its Agency MBS to be credit related. In assessing whether it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell any impaired security before its anticipated recovery, which may be at its maturity, the Company considers for each impaired security, the significance of each investment, the amount of impairment, the projected future performance of such impaired securities, as well as the Company’s current and anticipated leverage capacity and liquidity position. Based on these analyses, the Company determined that at December 31, 2016 any unrealized losses on its Agency MBS were temporary.

Gross unrealized losses on the Company’s Non-Agency MBS (including Non-Agency MBS transferred to consolidated VIEs) were $5.2 million at December 31, 2016. Based upon the most recent evaluation, the Company does not consider these unrealized losses to be indicative of OTTI and does not believe that these unrealized losses are credit related, but are rather a reflection of current market yields and/or marketplace bid-ask spreads. The Company has reviewed its Non-Agency MBS that are in an unrealized loss position to identify those securities with losses that are other-than-temporary based on an assessment of changes in expected cash flows for such securities, which considers recent bond performance and, where possible, expected future performance of the underlying collateral.

The Company recognized credit-related OTTI losses through earnings related to its Non-Agency MBS of $485,000 and $705,000 during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015. The Company did not recognize any credit-related OTTI losses through earnings related to its investments during the year ended 2014.

Non-Agency MBS on which OTTI is recognized have experienced, or are expected to experience, credit-related adverse cash flow changes. The Company’s estimate of cash flows for these Non-Agency MBS is based on its review of the underlying mortgage loans securing these MBS. The Company considers information available about the structure of the securitization, including structural credit enhancement, if any, and the past and expected future performance of underlying mortgage loans, including timing of expected future cash flows, prepayment rates, default rates, loss severities, delinquency rates, percentage of non-performing loans, FICO scores at loan origination, year of origination, LTVs, geographic concentrations, as well as Rating Agency reports, general market assessments, and dialogue with market participants. Changes in the Company’s evaluation of each of these factors impacts the cash flows expected to be collected at the OTTI assessment date. For Non-Agency MBS purchased at a discount to par that were assessed for and had no OTTI recorded this period, such cash flow estimates indicated that the amount of expected losses decreased compared to the previous OTTI assessment date. These positive cash flow changes are primarily driven by recent improvements in LTVs due to loan amortization and home price appreciation, which, in turn, positively impacts the Company’s estimates of default rates and loss severities for the underlying collateral. In addition, voluntary prepayments (i.e. loans that prepay in full with no loss) have generally trended higher for these MBS which also positively impacts the Company’s estimate of expected loss. Overall, the combination of higher voluntary prepayments and lower LTVs supports the Company’s assessment that such MBS are not other-than-temporarily impaired.

The following table presents the composition of OTTI charges recorded by the Company for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014:



	For the Year Ended December 31,
(In Thousands)	2016			2015			2014
Total OTTI losses	$	(1,255	)	$	(525	)	$	—
OTTI recognized in/(reclassified from) OCI	770			(180		)	—
OTTI recognized in earnings	$	(485	)	$	(705	)	$	—

The following table presents a roll-forward of the credit loss component of OTTI on the Company’s Non-Agency MBS for which a non-credit component of OTTI was previously recognized in OCI. Changes in the credit loss component of OTTI are presented based upon whether the current period is the first time OTTI was recorded on a security or a subsequent OTTI charge was recorded.



	For the Year Ended December 31,
(In Thousands)	2016		2015		2014
Credit loss component of OTTI at beginning of period	$	36,820	$	36,115	$	36,115
Additions for credit related OTTI not previously recognized	314		461		—
Subsequent additional credit related OTTI recorded	171		244		—
Credit loss component of OTTI at end of period	$	37,305	$	36,820	$	36,115

Purchase Discounts on Non-Agency MBS

The following table presents the changes in the components of the Company’s purchase discount on its Non-Agency MBS between purchase discount designated as Credit Reserve and OTTI and accretable purchase discount for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015:



	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2016						2015
(In Thousands)	Discount Designated as Credit Reserve and OTTI			Accretable Discount (1)			Discount Designated as Credit Reserve and OTTI			Accretable Discount (1)
Balance at beginning of period	$	(787,541	)	$	(312,182	)	$	(900,557	)	$	(399,564	)
Cumulative effect adjustment on adoption of revised accounting standard for repurchase agreement financing	—			—			(15,543		)	1,832
Impact of RMBS Issuer settlement (2)	—			(59,900		)	—			—
Accretion of discount	—			80,548			—			93,173
Realized credit losses	64,217			—			80,821			—
Purchases	(25,999		)	13,094			(1,200		)	(4,925		)
Sales	17,863			37,953			8,525			38,420
Net impairment losses recognized in earnings	(485		)	—			(705		)	—
Transfers/release of credit reserve	37,704			(37,704		)	41,118			(41,118		)
Balance at end of period	$	(694,241	)	$	(278,191	)	$	(787,541	)	$	(312,182	)

(1) Together with coupon interest, accretable purchase discount is recognized as interest income over the life of the security.


(2)	Includes the impact of approximately $61.8 million and $7.0 million of cash proceeds (a one-time payment) received by the Company during the year ended December 31, 2016 in connection with the settlements of litigation related to certain Countrywide and Citigroup sponsored residential mortgage backed securitization trusts, respectively.

Impact of AFS Securities on AOCI

The following table presents the impact of the Company’s AFS securities on its AOCI for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014:



	For the Year Ended December 31,
(In Thousands)	2016			2015			2014
AOCI from AFS securities:
Unrealized gain on AFS securities at beginning of period	$	585,250		$	813,515		$	752,912
Unrealized (loss)/gain on Agency MBS, net	(9,322		)	(51,332		)	65,739
Unrealized gain/(loss) on Non-Agency MBS, net	81,882			(143,558		)	29,812
Cumulative effect adjustment on adoption of revised accounting standard for repurchase agreement financing	—			4,537			—
Reclassification adjustment for MBS sales included in net income	(36,922		)	(37,207		)	(34,948		)
Reclassification adjustment for OTTI included in net income	(485		)	(705		)	—
Change in AOCI from AFS securities	35,153			(228,265		)	60,603
Balance at end of period	$	620,403		$	585,250		$	813,515

Sales of MBS

During 2016, the Company sold certain Non-Agency MBS for $85.6 million, realizing gross gains of $35.8 million. During 2015, the Company sold certain Non-Agency MBS for $70.7 million, realizing gross gains of $34.9 million. During 2014, the Company sold certain Non-Agency MBS for $123.9 million realizing gross gains of $37.5 million. The Company has no continuing involvement with any of the sold MBS.

Interest Income on MBS and CRT Securities

The following table presents components of interest income on the Company’s MBS and CRT securities for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014:



	For the Year Ended December 31,
(In Thousands)	2016			2015			2014
Agency MBS
Coupon interest	$	119,966		$	147,066		$	189,355
Effective yield adjustment (1)	(36,897		)	(41,231		)	(46,812		)
Interest income	$	83,069		$	105,835		$	142,543

Legacy Non-Agency MBS
Coupon interest	$	154,057		$	183,349		$	212,073
Effective yield adjustment (2)	78,443			91,003			103,491
Interest income	$	232,500		$	274,352		$	315,564

3 Year Step-up securities
Coupon interest	$	100,032		$	87,429		$	898
Effective yield adjustment (1)	2,108			1,789			(132		)
Interest income	$	102,140		$	89,218		$	766

CRT securities
Coupon interest	$	13,023		$	5,844		$	665
Effective yield adjustment (2)	1,747			728			107
Interest income	$	14,770		$	6,572		$	772

(1) Includes amortization of premium paid net of accretion of purchase discount. For Agency MBS and 3 Year Step-up securities, interest income is recorded at an effective yield, which reflects net premium amortization/accretion based on actual prepayment activity.

(2) The effective yield adjustment is the difference between the net income calculated using the net yield, which is based on management’s estimates of the amount and timing of future cash flows, less the current coupon yield.