Mortgage Backed Securities - MBS
An investment instrument that represents ownership of an undivided interest in a group of mortgages. Principal and interest from the individual mortgages are used to pay investors' principal and interest on the MBS. Also known as "mortgage pass-through."
When you invest in a mortgage backed security you are lending money to a homebuyer or business. An MBS is a way for a smaller regional bank to lend mortgages to its customers without having to worry if the customers have the assets to cover the loan. Instead, the bank acts as a middleman between the homebuyer and the investment markets.
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