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Derivative Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

Note 12 — Derivative Financial Instruments

We enter into derivative financial instruments to manage exposures that arise from business activities resulting in the receipt or payment of future known and uncertain cash amounts, the value of which are determined by interest rates and credit risk. We do not use these derivatives for speculative purposes, but are instead using them to manage our interest rate and credit risk exposure.

Agency Rate Lock and Forward Sale Commitments. We enter into contractual commitments to originate and sell mortgage loans at fixed prices with fixed expiration dates. The commitments become effective when the borrower “rate locks” a specified interest rate within time frames established by us. All potential borrowers are evaluated for creditworthiness prior to the extension of the commitment. Market risk arises if interest rates move adversely between the time of the rate lock by the borrower and the sale date of the loan to an investor. To mitigate the effect of the interest rate risk inherent in providing rate lock commitments to borrowers under the GSE programs, we enter into a forward sale commitment with the investor simultaneously with the rate lock commitment with the borrower. The forward sale contract locks in an interest rate and price for the sale of the loan. The terms of the contract with the investor and the rate lock with the borrower are matched in substantially all respects, with the objective of eliminating interest rate risk to the extent practical. Sale commitments with the investors have an expiration date that is longer than our related commitments to the borrower to allow, among other things, for closing of the loan and processing of paperwork to deliver the loan into the sale commitment.

These commitments meet the definition of a derivative and are recorded at fair value, including the effects of interest rate movements which are reflected as a component of gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net in the consolidated statements of income. The estimated fair value of rate lock commitments also includes the fair value of the expected net cash flows associated with the servicing of the loan which is recorded as income from MSRs in the consolidated statements of income. During 2022, 2021 and 2020, we recorded net losses of $3.6 million, net losses of $0.8 million and net gains of $3.4 million, respectively, from changes in the fair value of these derivatives and $69.3 million, $130.2 million and $165.5 million, respectively, of income from MSRs. See Note 13 for details.

Interest Rate and Credit Default Swaps (“Swaps”). We enter into over-the-counter swaps to hedge our interest rate and credit risk exposure inherent in (1) our held-for-sale Agency Business Private Label loans from the time the loans are rate locked until sale or securitization, and (2) our Agency Business SFR – fixed rate loans from the time the loans are originated until the time they can be financed with match term fixed rate securitized debt. Our interest rate swaps typically have a three-month maturity and are tied to the five-year and ten-year swap rates. Our credit default swaps typically have a five-year maturity, are tied to the credit spreads of the underlying bond issuers and we typically hold our position until we price our Private Label loan securitizations. The Swaps do not meet the criteria for hedge accounting, are cleared by a central clearing house and variation margin payments, made in cash, are treated as a legal settlement of the derivative itself as opposed to a pledge of collateral.

During 2022, we recorded realized and unrealized gains of $26.9 million and $3.5 million, respectively, to our Agency Business related to our Swaps. During 2021, we recorded realized and unrealized losses of less than $0.1 million and $1.5 million, respectively, to our Agency Business related to our Swaps. During 2020, we recorded realized losses of $3.0 million and unrealized gains of $0.2 million to our Structured Business and realized losses of $57.1 million and unrealized losses of $1.7 million to our Agency Business related to our Swaps. The realized and unrealized gains and losses are recorded in gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net.

A summary of our non-qualifying derivative financial instruments in our Agency Business is as follows ($ in thousands):


		December 31, 2022
									Fair Value
				Notional			Balance Sheet		Derivative			Derivative
Derivative		Count		Value			Location		Assets			Liabilities
Rate lock commitments		6		$	91,472		Other assets/other liabilities		$	354		$	(1,070)
Forward sale commitments		27			294,451		Other assets/other liabilities			1,151			(3,827)
Swaps		1,298			129,800					—			—
				$	515,723				$	1,505		$	(4,897)


		December 31, 2021
Rate lock commitments		2		$	11,250		Other assets/other liabilities		$	295		$	(33)
Forward sale commitments		55			571,220		Other assets/other liabilities			1,370			(1,449)
Swaps		3,882			388,200					—			—
				$	970,670				$	1,665		$	(1,482)