Alexander Radisich

Senior Associate

Los Angeles

aradisich@orrick.com

Read full biography at www.orrick.com

Alex Radisich, a Senior Associate in Orrick’s Los Angeles office, is a member of the firm’s Structured Finance and Banking and Finance Groups.

Alex represents a variety of market participants, including issuers, sponsors, underwriters, servicers, loan sellers and purchasers in connection with securitizations, asset-backed financings and asset acquisitions and sales. Alex has experience working with a wide range of asset classes, including agency and non-agency forward and reverse residential mortgage loans, fix-and-flip loans, servicing rights and advances, consumer loans, student loans and non-performing loans.  

Alex also has experience advising clients on securitization and servicing issues in the bankruptcy context. Alex represented Ditech Holding Corporation, one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, as special securitization counsel in connection with its bankruptcy proceedings. In this role, Alex negotiated the terms for the sale of Ditech’s portfolio of agency and non-agency forward mortgage servicing rights and mortgage loans and advised on various securitization and servicing issues that arose with securitization trustees and federal agencies.

During law school, Alex served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Judge Harry Pregerson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as a law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Posts by: Alexander Radisich

OCC, FDIC and CFPB Issue Final Rule on Role of Supervisory Guidance

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On January 19, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule regarding the role of supervisory guidance for regulated institutions. The final rule provides that unlike a law or regulation, supervisory guidance does not have the force and effect of law, and that the Agencies will not take enforcement actions or issue supervisory criticisms based on non-compliance with supervisory guidance. The final rule provides that the proper role of supervisory guidance is to outline supervisory expectations and priorities, or articulate views regarding appropriate practices for a given subject area. FDIC Release. OCC Release. Final Rule.

CFPB Issues Final Rule on Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan Escrow Exemption

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On January 19, the CFPB issued a final rule exempting certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions from the requirement to establish escrow accounts for certain higher-priced mortgage loans (HPMLs). The final rule exempts from the HPML escrow requirement any loan made by an insured depository institution or insured credit union and secured by a first lien on the principal dwelling of a consumer if (1) the institution has assets of $10 billion or less; (2) the institution and its affiliates originated 1,000 or fewer loans secured by a first lien on a principal dwelling during the preceding calendar year; and (3) certain of the existing HPML escrow exemption criteria are met. Final Rule.

Banking Regulatory Agencies Finalize Rules on Real Estate Appraisals and Regulatory Treatment of Emergency Capital Facilities

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On September 29, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), together with the OCC and the Federal Reserve (the “Agencies”), published final rules temporarily deferring real estate appraisal requirements for financial institutions and mitigating the regulatory capital and liquidity effects for banks that participate in certain COVID-related Federal Reserve liquidity facilities. The final rules are identical or substantially similar to interim final rules currently in effect that were issued earlier this year. The final rule on real estate appraisals temporarily allows financial institutions to defer completion of appraisals and evaluations on certain residential and commercial real estate transactions for up to 120 days after closing. The final rule on the Federal Reserve liquidity facilities provides that banking organizations that participate in the Federal Reserve’s Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility and Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility are permitted to exclude exposures acquired through their participation in such programs when determining their compliance with the Agencies’ regulatory capital rule and/or liquidity coverage ratio rule. OCC Release. Federal Reserve Release. FDIC Release. 

Regulatory Agencies Finalize Changes to Covered Fund Provisions of the Volcker Rule

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On July 31, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the U.S. CFTC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a final rule amending the regulations that implement Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act (the “BHC Act”), commonly known as the Volcker Rule. The final rule, which goes into effect on October 1, is intended to improve and streamline the covered fund provisions of Section 13 of the BHC Act. The final rule aims to accomplish this by, among other things, permitting the following activities: qualifying foreign excluded funds; revising the exclusions from the definition of “covered fund” for foreign public funds, loan securitizations, public welfare investments, and small business investment companies; creating new exclusions from the definition of covered fund for credit funds, qualifying venture capital funds, family wealth management vehicles, and customer facilitation vehicles; modifying the definition of “ownership interest”; and providing that certain investments made in parallel with a covered fund, as well as certain restricted profit interests held by an employee or director, need not be included in a banking entity’s calculation of its ownership interest in the covered fund. OCC Bulletin. Federal Register Final Rule.

Rating Agency Developments (July 30 – August 19)

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On August 19, Moody’s published its research report titled Housing – US: Urban Markets Will Recover After Pandemic as Americans’ Housing Decisions Evolve. Report.

On August 14, Fitch published its updated criteria for rating Trade Receivables Securitizations. Criteria.

On August 14, Moody’s published its updated methodology for rating Collateralized Loan Obligations. Methodology.

On August 7, KBRA published its Structured Finance surveillance report titled CMBS: Bank 2019-BNK19. Report.

On August 7, KBRA published its research report titled RMBS Credit Indices: July 2020. Report.

On August 4, KBRA published its Public Finance research report titled Coronavirus (COVID-19): New Jersey and Other States Consider Deficit Borrowing. Report.

On August 4, Moody’s published its methodology for rating Market Value Collateralized Loan Obligations. Methodology.

Federal Reserve Expands Main Street Lending Program to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

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On June 8, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Board”) announced that it was expanding its Main Street Lending Program to allow more small and medium-sized business to qualify for the program. Among the changes, the Board lowered the minimum loan size for certain loans from $500,000 to $250,000, increased the maximum loan size for all facilities, increased the term of each loan option from four years to five years and extended the repayment period for all loans by delaying principal payments for two years rather than one year. Release.

CFTC Approves Final Rule Regarding Registration Requirements for Commodity Pool Operators

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On June 4, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized a rule to prohibit certain commodity pool operators from relying on the registration exemptions found in Regulation 4.13 in Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations (“Regulation 4.13”). The final rule generally prohibits persons who have, or whose principals have, any of the disqualifying factors listed in Section 8a (2) of the Commodity Exchange Act from claiming one of the exemptions to the commodity-pool-operator registration requirements set forth in Regulation 4.13. Release.

Rating Agency Developments (June 4 – June 15)

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On June 15, KBRA published a Structured Finance CMBS pre-sale report titled Bank 2020-BNK27. Report.

On June 10, DBRS Morningstar published its U.S. ABS General Ratings. Methodology.

On June 9, KBRA published a research report titled Coronavirus (COVID 19): State and Local Revenue Losses Adding Up. Report.

On June 9, Fitch published its Consumer ABS Rating. Criteria.

On June 8, Moody’s published its Approach to Rating TruPS CDOs. Methodology.

On June 8, DBRS Morningstar published its Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organizations. Methodology.

On June 8, Fitch published its National Scale Rating. Criteria.

On June 4, DBRS Morningstar published its Rating Entities in the Real Estate Industry. Methodology.

On June 4, DBRS Morningstar published its Interest Rate Stresses for U.S. Structured Finance Transactions. Methodology.

Agencies Publish Rule Simplifying Capital Calculations for Community Banks

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On October 29, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) adopted a final rule that simplifies capital requirements for community banks. The final rule allows community banks with less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets, a leverage ratio of greater than nine percent (9%) and limited amounts of off-balance-sheet exposures and trading assets to adopt a simple leverage ratio to measure their compliance with the capital requirements. The simplified leverage ratio framework removes requirements for calculating and reporting risk-based capital ratios for qualifying community banks that opt into the framework. FDIC Release. Federal Reserve Release.

HUD and Justice Department Sign Interagency Memorandum on Enforcement of False Claims Act

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On October 28, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two agencies that provides prudential guidance on the appropriate use of the False Claims Act (FCA) for violations by Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lenders. The MOU aims to bring greater clarity to regulatory expectations within the FHA program and ease banks’ worries about facing future penalties for mortgage-lending errors. HUD expects that FHA requirements will be enforced primarily through HUD’s administrative proceedings, but the MOU specifically addresses how HUD and the DOJ will consult with each other regarding the use of the FCA in connection with defects on mortgage loans insured by the FHA. In addition to the MOU, the FHA is simplifying certain certifications that lenders make in connection with the FHA program to better track statutory requirements and address materiality and culpability considerations. HUD Release. DOJ Release.