Amid aggressive bank lobbying and President Donald Trump’s deregulatory efforts, one of the core financial products that led to millions of foreclosures during the Great Recession is being quietly readied for a comeback — even as economic and climate conditions make its return all the more destabilizing.
In September, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wall Street’s top regulator, solicited feedback on how it could help revive the residential-mortgage-backed securities market — one of the main drivers of the 2008 financial crisis. According to the statement, the agency wanted to hear from the public “on whether there are SEC regulatory impediments contributing to the absence” of these financial products, which have essentially been dead since 2013.
The move came as lobbying groups representing many of the major banks that helped sink the global economy eighteen years ago spent more than $10.3 million last year lobbying Congress, the SEC, and other regulators on residential-mortgage-backed securities, among other issues. In response to the SEC’s request for comments on the matter, the groups have urged the commission to roll back disclosure rules and other restrictions on the residential-mortgage-backed securities market.
Meanwhile, skyrocketing home prices have driven more homebuyers to turn to the same kind of risky “subprime” loans that previously helped crater the economy. Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages rose to a post-2008 high of nearly 13 percent of all mortgage loan applications for one week in September 2025.
What’s more, Federal Reserve economists are warning that climate change may lead to more delinquent mortgages, making these kinds of financial products all the riskier.
Paul Atkins, Trump’s current SEC chair, has been called a “deregulation zealot” who helped weaken banking rules in the lead-up to the 2008 crisis, including by eliminating a rule preventing manipulative short selling, during his…
Auteur: Freddy Brewster
