Over the past week, the central bank has released a volley of measures to boost liquidity in the financial markets and get cash into the hands of small businesses and consumers amid growing worries the coronavirus outbreak would wreak economic havoc across the country.
As part of that program, the Fed has committed to purchasing billion of dollars of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) secured primarily by multifamily home mortgages guaranteed by housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The New York Fed said in a statement on Tuesday it had retained BlackRock Financial Markets Advisory to purchase the assets on the Fed’s behalf from primary dealers in the market.
“BlackRock was selected on a short-term basis to serve as an investment manager after considering their expertise in trading and analyzing agency CMBS in the secondary market, and robust operational and technological capabilities,” the Fed said.
BlackRock said it would release more details on the terms and conditions of the purchasing program in due course and would not discuss any purchases with dealers until then.
The full article is available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fed-banks/us-fed-hires-blackrock-to-help-execute-mortgage-backed-securities-purchases-idUSKBN21B3E0
Read the full releases from NY Fed:
https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primary-market-corporate-credit-facility
https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/secondary-market-corporate-credit-facility