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Published on August 7, 2009
Chimera
Investment Corporation
1211
Avenue of the Americas, Suite 2902
New York,
NY 10036
August 7,
2009
VIA
EDGAR
Mr. Jorge
Bonilla
Division
of Corporation Finance
Securities
and Exchange Commission
100 F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Re: Chimera
Investment Corporation
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2008
Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March
31, 2009
File No. 001-33796
Dear Mr.
Bonilla:
On behalf of Chimera Investment
Corporation, set forth below are our responses to the comments of the staff of
the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission,
received by letter dated July 21, 2009 with respect to our Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED
DECEMBER 31, 2008
Item 1A. Risk
Factors
We may be required to
repurchase mortgage loans or indemnify investors if we breach representations
and warranties, which could harm our earnings, page 31
1.
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We
read your response to comment one and note that it appears your
determination of the significant of your guarantee liability on the whole
loan sales was based upon a requirement that the originator repurchase any
loan which incurred an early payment default. In the event that
the originator is unable to fulfill their obligation, please describe the
impact on your guarantee. In this regard, tell us how you
considered the requirements of paragraph 13 of FIN
45. Additionally expand your discussion to address how these
repurchase obligations impact accounting for a securitization transaction
as a sale under SFAS 140.
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Response
In the
event the originator of loans purchased by the Company is unable to
fulfill its obligation to repurchase loans deemed to be in early payment
default, the Company may be obligated to repurchase those loans. The
potential impact of this obligation to the Company to date has been
limited to the two occasions when it made whole mortgage loan sales to
third parties but not where the loans were being simultaneously
securitized. In each of these transactions the Company’s early payment
default repurchase obligation expired 90 days subsequent to the sale date
without the Company being obligated to repurchase any assets. If any
assets were required to be repurchased and the originator was unable to meet its
obligation to the Company, the Company’s exposure would have been equal to the
repurchase price agreed to among the parties. We do not believe this
sort of a repurchase obligation qualifies for disclosure pursuant to FIN
45.
The
Company does not have a repurchase obligation with respect to loans it has
securitized. Under the Company’s two securitizations, pursuant to the
assignment, assumption, and recognition agreement between the Company, the
originator, and the depositor, the Company assigned to the depositor the
mortgage loans and its rights under the agreement pursuant to which it acquired
the mortgage loans. The depositor in turn deposited the mortgage
loans into the securitization vehicle pursuant to a sale and servicing
agreement. As a result, the repurchase obligations were that of the
depositor, not the Company. As there were no continuing obligations
with regard to the transferred assets, the Company did not record any continuing
obligations under 11(b) of SFAS 140. Pursuant to paragraph 11 of SFAS
140, if the Company had a continuing obligation to repurchase loans transferred
to the securitization vehicle, a liability would have been
recorded.
Item 6. Selected Financial
Data
Taxable Income per Share,
page 44
2.
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We
considered your responses to comments two and three and it appears that
the adjustment for realized loss on sale of investments includes realized
losses on termination of interest rate swaps. Please confirm
and clarify your disclosure in future
filings.
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Response
The
realized loss on sale of investments presented in the taxable income per share
calculation includes the realized loss incurred on the early termination of the
interest rate swaps agreements entered into by the Company. Future
disclosures of Taxable Income per Share will separately enumerate each adjusting
line item as it appears within the Consolidated Statements of Operations and
Comprehensive Income.
Item
15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
3.
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Refer
to Exhibit 10.9 on the Exhibit Index, which is a Master Repurchase
Agreement, dated January 31, 2008, between you, DB Structured Products,
Inc., and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. We note that Schedules
1 and 2, as well as Exhibits A-J do not appear in the agreement as filed
with your Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30,
2008. Please note that Item 601(b)(10) does not permit the
omission of information that is attached to a material
contract. Please file the complete agreement in an amendment to
your 10-K, in a Form 8-K, or as an exhibit to your next periodic
report. and Notes
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2
Response
The
Company and the other parties to this agreement terminated the agreement on July
29, 2008 and the Company filed a Form 8-K announcing the termination on July 31,
2008. As a result, the agreement is no longer material to the Company
and the Company does not believe that it should file the omitted schedules and
exhibits as filing would be confusing to investors at this time. In
the future, the Company will not omit any information that is attached to a
material contract unless it obtains confidential treatment from the
Commission.
*
*
*
The
Company hereby acknowledges that:
·
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the Company
is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the Form
10-K, Form 10-Q, and its Proxy
Statement;
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·
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Staff
comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filings: and
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·
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the Company
may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.
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Please
send any additional concerns or questions regarding your letters dated July 21,
2009 and May 26, 2009 to my attention at adenahan@annaly.com
or feel free to call me at 212-696-0100.
Very
truly yours,
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/s/
A. Alexandra Denahan
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A.
Alexandra Denahan
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Chief
Financial
Officer
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cc: R.
Nicholas Singh, Esq.
Fixed Income Discount Advisory
Company
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