Via Valentina Pasquali in agbi.com: Saudi officials have signed a preliminary deal this week to issue residential mortgage-backed securities, a first for the Gulf. The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), which is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and the Hassana Investment Company, which manages the assets of the national social security and pension fund, signed the memorandum of understanding on January 1. “Our partnership with Hassana marks a significant milestone in supporting the evolution of the housing finance landscape and fostering the development of Saudi Arabia’s capital markets,” SRC’s chief executive Majeed Al Abduljabbar said in a statement. Mortgage-backed securities are investments like bonds. Each is a share in a bundle of home loans and other real estate debt bought from the banks or government entities that issued them. Investors in mortgage-backed securities receive periodic payments like bond coupon payments.
