In the first portion of my testimony, I will explain our current understanding of the nature and extent of the deficiencies in mortgage documentation that have been so apparent in the robosigning misconduct, as well as what the banking agencies are doing in support of a broader interagency effort to develop a full picture of these problems.
I also want to address the issue of so-called put backs of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to mortgage originators or securitization sponsors. Though only indirectly related to robo-signing and associated servicing flaws, financial exposure resulting from put backs could be more significant for some institutions than that from documentation flaws.