SecProbe.io

Filing text and metadata
Intelligence Terminal Search Probe Scores Topics IPO Watchlist Monthly Activity About API

SEC Company Response from WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORP (CIK 0001011663) — Dec 21, 2005

WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORP (CIK 0001011663)
Date: Dec. 21, 2005 · CIK: 0001011663 · Accession: 0000914121-05-002437

AI Filing Summary & Sentiment

File numbers found in text: 333-129159

Referenced dates: November 18, 2005

Date
December 21, 2005
Author
Not clearly detected
Form
CORRESP
Company
WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORP (CIK 0001011663)

Letter

[Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP] December 21, 2005 Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. Special Counsel Division of Corporation Finance United States Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20549

Re: Wells Fargo Asset Securities Corporation Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-129159) Filed on October 20, 2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ms. Williams:

We are counsel to Wells Fargo Asset Securities Corporation (the "Registrant") under the above-captioned registration statement (the "Registration Statement"). We have reviewed your letter dated November 18, 2005 (the "Comment Letter") transmitting comments of the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the "Staff") of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") and have discussed the comments contained therein with various representatives of the Registrant. The following are the responses of the Registrant to the Staff's comments. Terms used herein without definition have the meanings given them in the form of base prospectus (the "Base Prospectus") or the form of prospectus supplement (the "Prospectus Supplement") contained in Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement ("Amendment No. 1"), which has been filed today with the Commission through the EDGAR system. Enclosed herewith are four courtesy copy of Amendment No. 1, two of which have been marked to show changes implemented in response to the requests of the Staff in the Comment Letter.

For your convenience, the Staff's comments are repeated in italics below, followed by the Participant's responses. References to page numbers in Amendment No. 1 are to the marked version.

1. Please confirm that the depositor or any issuing entity previously established, directly or indirectly, by the depositor or any affiliate of the depositor have been current with Exchange Act reporting during the last twelve months with respect to asset-backed

<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

securities involving the same asset class. Please refer to General Instruction I.A.4. of Form S-3. Also, please provide us with the CIK codes for any affiliate of the depositor that has offered a class of asset-backed securities involving the same asset class as this offering.

The Registrant confirms that the depositor and each issuing entity previously established directly or indirectly by the depositor or any affiliate or the depositor have been current with Exchange Act reporting during the last twelve months with respect to asset-backed securities involving the same asset class. No affiliate of the depositor has offered a class of asset-backed securities involving the same asset class as this offering.

2. Please include a separately captioned section and disclose any legal proceedings pending against the sponsor, seller, servicer, depositor, trustees, issuing entity or other transaction parties that would be material to investors, if applicable. Refer to Item 1117 of Regulation AB.

The Registrant confirms its obligation to describe any legal proceedings pending against the sponsor, the depositor or any of the other entities described in Item 1117 of Regulation AB that would be material to security holders. However, because, as of the date of this letter, there are no material legal proceedings pending of the type referred to in Item 1117 in Regulation AB, and because Item 1117 does not require affirmative disclosure of the absence of any such material legal proceedings, the Registrant does not believe that a separately captioned legal proceedings section is required at this time.

3. Please confirm that you plan to file the finalized agreements, including the exhibits to these agreements, as an exhibit to the registrant statement or under cover of Form 8-K and incorporated by reference into the registration statement at the time of each takedown. Refer to 1100(f) of Regulation AB.

The Registrant confirms that it plans to file finalized agreements, including exhibits, as an exhibit to the Registration Statement or under cover of Form 8-K for incorporation by reference into the Registration Statement at the time of each takedown. The Registrant will file each such Form 8-K not later than fifteen days following the closing date related to each takedown.

4. Please confirm that the pool will include no non-performing loans, and less than a 20% concentration level of delinquent loans.

Page 2

<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

The Registrant confirms that asset pools will include no nonperforming loans and less than a 20% concentration level of delinquent loans.

5. Please briefly define here or in the summary the use of the term "non-relocation" to describe the type of mortgage loans in the asset pool.

The Staff's requested changes have been made at page S-8 of the Prospectus Supplement.

6. Please provide an appropriate cross-reference in the first footnote on this page.

The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-4 of the Prospectus Supplement.

7. We note you refer to footnote 7 for the pass-through rate on your Class A-1, A-2, A-5 and A-6 Certificates. However, we cannot locate disclosure explaining the purpose of this footnote. Please provide this disclosure or remove your reference to this footnote.

Footnote 7 has been revised to clarify that it describes the formulas applicable to each class of floating rate certificates.

8. It appears that loans in the asset pool will be originated by other mortgage loan originators. Please include bracketed language to disclose that you will provide the information required for all other mortgage loan originators that will originate 20% or more of the pool assets and that the mortgage loan originators that will originate 10% or more of the pool assets will be identified. Refer to Item 1110(a) and (b) of Regulation AB.

Because the transaction described in the Prospectus Supplement is illustrative and does not relate to any particular originator other than Wells Fargo Bank, the Registrant has not included any bracketed disclosure about any other hypothetical originator, since whether any such originator will exceed the thresholds in Item 1110 of Regulation AB, and the particulars of the disclosure that would be required about a particular originator under Item 1110(b), are not currently known to the Registrant. However, the Registrant confirms its understanding that other mortgage loan originators who originate 10% or more of the pool assets will need to be identified in the applicable Prospectus Supplement and that information described in Item 1110(b) of Regulation AB will be required about mortgage originators who originate 20% of more of the pool assets. In that regard, the Registrant directs the Staff's attention to the bracketed language on

Page 3 <PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

page S-39 of the Prospectus Supplement, in which the Registrant has indicated its understanding of that obligation.

9. Please expand your disclosure to briefly explain the circumstances for the optional purchases of certain mortgage loans from the pool. For example, we note on page 77 in the base prospectus that the depositor or the master servicer may repurchase any mortgage loan which is in default during one or more thirty-day periods. Also, briefly disclose the "certain circumstances" when substitutions may be made for certain mortgage loans. Refer to Item 1103(a)(6) of Regulation AB.

The Staff's requested change has been made at pages S-8 - S-9 of the Prospectus Supplement.

10. In this regard, we note on page S-41 that the depositor may substitute for any reason a new mortgage loan for any mortgage loan in the trust estate for three months following the closing date. However, it does not appear your transaction meets the limited exceptions to the discrete pool requirement under Item 1101(c)(1) of Regulation AB. Refer to Item 1101(c)(3) of Regulation AB. Please provide an analysis to explain how the general substitution of mortgage loans would meet the definition of an asset-backed security under Regulation AB.

The Registrant has elected to remove the referenced substitution right from its transactions under the Registration Statement and has, accordingly, deleted the referenced language.

11. Please expand your disclosure to briefly clarify why the weighted average life of a "companion certificate" is particularly sensitive to principal prepayments on the mortgage loans.

The Staff's requested change has been made of page S-13 of the Prospectus Supplement.

12. Please provide us with a copy of the static pool information you intend to present on your Internet web site. Also, please consider providing a graphic presentation of the information as this will enable investors to grasp information more quickly and see patterns visually or explain to us why a graphical presentation would not aid the understanding of the static pool information to investors.

Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the intended format for static pool disclosure

Page 4 <PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

which will appear on the Registrant's designated website when it becomes available. The Registrant does not currently plan to provide a graphic presentation of static pool data.

13. Please include a graphical illustration or flow chart that would complement the narrative description of the pool distribution amount allocation on page S-24 and distribution on the Class A Certificates on page S-32 or advise why a graphical illustration among the various classes of certificates would not aid the understanding of the flow of funds to a potential investor. Refer to Item 1113(a)(2) of Regulation AB.

In the Registrant's judgment, the narrative descriptions of the pool distribution amount allocation and of the principal distributions on the Class A Certificates present such information in a manner familiar to and understood by investors in mortgage-backed securities and in the sufficient detail to enable such investors to perform their own modeling activities with respect to those securities. In the Registrant's judgment, supplemental graphical information or flow charts would merely provide redundant disclosure and would do so in a less precise manner. The Registrant does not believe that this will aid the understanding of potential investors and is unaware of any expressed desire for such a presentation by investors in its securities.

14. Please explain why the mortgage loans in the trust estate are "expected to be" secured by first liens rather than "will be" secured by first liens.

The disclosure on page S-39 of the Prospectus Supplement has been revised to clarify that the mortgage loans "will be" secured by first liens.

15. The first paragraph on page S-40 provides that the first table in Appendix A will set forth certain characteristics of the Mortgage Loans, Premium Mortgage Loans and the Discount Mortgage Loans. The first table of Appendix A, however, does not present separately the various pool characteristics for each of the Premium Mortgage Loans and Discount Mortgage Loans. Please add these characteristics to the "Selected Mortgage Loan Data" on page A-1.

The column headings for the Premium Mortgage Loans and Discount Mortgage Loans, which were inadvertently omitted from Appendix A, have been reinserted.

16. We note your statement that "in certain instances, exceptions to the Underwriting Standards may have been granted." Please add bracketed language to disclose the type of exceptions to underwriting standards affecting any of the mortgage loans

Page 5 <PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

included in the asset pool and quantify the percentage of these mortgage loans to the extent material.

The Sponsor's normal mortgage loan underwriting practice is to grant exceptions to individual underwriting criteria if, in the judgment of the originator's underwriting personnel, sufficient compensating factors exist. The Registrant does not believe that the nature or amount of exceptions made to the underwriting guidelines pursuant to which the mortgage loans in any trust were originated will be material to investors in the related securities. However, to the extent that a transaction contains mortgage loans for which exceptions to underwriting criteria were granted and the Registrant concludes that such exceptions would be material to investors in the related securities, such exceptions to the underwriting criteria will be disclosed in the applicable prospectus supplement. Because exceptions may be made to any individual underwriting criteria, the Registrant cannot provide any further information about the nature of specific exceptions which may be present in any given transaction at this time.

17. We note your disclosure on page S-49. However, it does not appear that you have included a table itemizing all the fees and expenses disclosure required by Item 1113(c) of Regulation AB. Please revise to disclose all of the information called for by Item 1113(c) in a tabular format. Also, please add this section to the table of contents.

The Registrant has revised the presentation of fee information on page S-49 of the Prospectus Supplement to more clearly indicate that it is the tabular presentation required by Item 1113(c) of Regulation AB and to include information about successor compensation and other expenses reimbursable to the transaction parties out of cash flows on the pool assets.

18. Please include the underwriter compensation information called for in Item 508 of Regulation S-K.

The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-53 of the Prospectus Supplement.

19. It appears that the underwriter and any dealers that participate in the distribution of the offered certificates are underwriters under the Securities Act. As such, please delete to remove the phrase "may be deemed to be" from this section here and in the base prospectus.

Page 6 <PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq. December 21, 2005

The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-53 of the Prospectus Supplement and at page 128 of the Base Prospectus.

20. Refer to footnote 1 to the table for "Selected Mortgage Loan Data" on page A-1. Please quantify the percentage of the mortgage loans for which FICO Scores are not available to the extent material.

The Registrant will add the reque

Show Raw Text
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.txt
<TEXT>

                       [Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP]

December 21, 2005

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
Special Counsel
Division of Corporation Finance
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC  20549

Re:   Wells Fargo Asset Securities Corporation
      Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-129159)
      Filed on October 20, 2005
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ms. Williams:

We are counsel to Wells Fargo Asset Securities Corporation (the "Registrant")
under the above-captioned registration statement (the "Registration Statement").
We have reviewed your letter dated November 18, 2005 (the "Comment Letter")
transmitting comments of the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the
"Staff") of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") and have
discussed the comments contained therein with various representatives of the
Registrant. The following are the responses of the Registrant to the Staff's
comments. Terms used herein without definition have the meanings given them in
the form of base prospectus (the "Base Prospectus") or the form of prospectus
supplement (the "Prospectus Supplement") contained in Amendment No. 1 to the
Registration Statement ("Amendment No. 1"), which has been filed today with the
Commission through the EDGAR system. Enclosed herewith are four courtesy copy of
Amendment No. 1, two of which have been marked to show changes implemented in
response to the requests of the Staff in the Comment Letter.

      For your convenience, the Staff's comments are repeated in italics below,
followed by the Participant's responses. References to page numbers in Amendment
No. 1 are to the marked version.

1.    Please confirm that the depositor or any issuing entity previously
      established, directly or indirectly, by the depositor or any affiliate
      of the depositor have been current with Exchange Act reporting during
      the last twelve months with respect to asset-backed

<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      securities involving the same asset class. Please refer to General
      Instruction I.A.4. of Form S-3. Also, please provide us with the CIK codes
      for any affiliate of the depositor that has offered a class of
      asset-backed securities involving the same asset class as this offering.

      The Registrant confirms that the depositor and each issuing entity
      previously established directly or indirectly by the depositor or any
      affiliate or the depositor have been current with Exchange Act reporting
      during the last twelve months with respect to asset-backed securities
      involving the same asset class. No affiliate of the depositor has offered
      a class of asset-backed securities involving the same asset class as this
      offering.

2.    Please include a separately captioned section and disclose any legal
      proceedings pending against the sponsor, seller, servicer, depositor,
      trustees, issuing entity or other transaction parties that would be
      material to investors, if applicable. Refer to Item 1117 of Regulation AB.

      The Registrant confirms its obligation to describe any legal proceedings
      pending against the sponsor, the depositor or any of the other entities
      described in Item 1117 of Regulation AB that would be material to security
      holders. However, because, as of the date of this letter, there are no
      material legal proceedings pending of the type referred to in Item 1117 in
      Regulation AB, and because Item 1117 does not require affirmative
      disclosure of the absence of any such material legal proceedings, the
      Registrant does not believe that a separately captioned legal proceedings
      section is required at this time.

3.    Please confirm that you plan to file the finalized agreements, including
      the exhibits to these agreements, as an exhibit to the registrant
      statement or under cover of Form 8-K and incorporated by reference into
      the registration statement at the time of each takedown. Refer to 1100(f)
      of Regulation AB.

      The Registrant confirms that it plans to file finalized agreements,
      including exhibits, as an exhibit to the Registration Statement or under
      cover of Form 8-K for incorporation by reference into the Registration
      Statement at the time of each takedown. The Registrant will file each such
      Form 8-K not later than fifteen days following the closing date related to
      each takedown.

4.    Please confirm that the pool will include no non-performing loans, and
      less than a 20% concentration level of delinquent loans.

                                                                          Page 2

<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      The Registrant confirms that asset pools will include no nonperforming
      loans and less than a 20% concentration level of delinquent loans.

5.    Please briefly define here or in the summary the use of the term
      "non-relocation" to describe the type of mortgage loans in the asset pool.

      The Staff's requested changes have been made at page S-8 of the Prospectus
      Supplement.

6.    Please provide an appropriate cross-reference in the first footnote on
      this page.

      The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-4 of the Prospectus
      Supplement.

7.    We note you refer to footnote 7 for the pass-through rate on your Class
      A-1, A-2, A-5 and A-6 Certificates. However, we cannot locate disclosure
      explaining the purpose of this footnote. Please provide this disclosure or
      remove your reference to this footnote.

      Footnote 7 has been revised to clarify that it describes the formulas
      applicable to each class of floating rate certificates.

8.    It appears that loans in the asset pool will be originated by other
      mortgage loan originators. Please include bracketed language to disclose
      that you will provide the information required for all other mortgage loan
      originators that will originate 20% or more of the pool assets and that
      the mortgage loan originators that will originate 10% or more of the pool
      assets will be identified. Refer to Item 1110(a) and (b) of Regulation AB.

      Because the transaction described in the Prospectus Supplement is
      illustrative and does not relate to any particular originator other than
      Wells Fargo Bank, the Registrant has not included any bracketed disclosure
      about any other hypothetical originator, since whether any such originator
      will exceed the thresholds in Item 1110 of Regulation AB, and the
      particulars of the disclosure that would be required about a particular
      originator under Item 1110(b), are not currently known to the Registrant.
      However, the Registrant confirms its understanding that other mortgage
      loan originators who originate 10% or more of the pool assets will need to
      be identified in the applicable Prospectus Supplement and that information
      described in Item 1110(b) of Regulation AB will be required about mortgage
      originators who originate 20% of more of the pool assets. In that regard,
      the Registrant directs the Staff's attention to the bracketed language on

                                                                          Page 3
<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      page S-39 of the Prospectus Supplement, in which the Registrant has
      indicated its understanding of that obligation.

9.    Please expand your disclosure to briefly explain the circumstances for the
      optional purchases of certain mortgage loans from the pool. For example,
      we note on page 77 in the base prospectus that the depositor or the master
      servicer may repurchase any mortgage loan which is in default during one
      or more thirty-day periods. Also, briefly disclose the "certain
      circumstances" when substitutions may be made for certain mortgage loans.
      Refer to Item 1103(a)(6) of Regulation AB.

      The Staff's requested change has been made at pages S-8 - S-9 of the
      Prospectus Supplement.

10.   In this regard, we note on page S-41 that the depositor may substitute
      for any reason a new mortgage loan for any mortgage loan in the trust
      estate for three months following the closing date.  However, it does
      not appear your transaction meets the limited exceptions to the
      discrete pool requirement under Item 1101(c)(1) of Regulation AB.
      Refer to Item 1101(c)(3) of Regulation AB.  Please provide an analysis
      to explain how the general substitution of mortgage loans would meet
      the definition of an asset-backed security under Regulation AB.

      The Registrant has elected to remove the referenced substitution right
      from its transactions under the Registration Statement and has,
      accordingly, deleted the referenced language.

11.   Please expand your disclosure to briefly clarify why the weighted average
      life of a "companion certificate" is particularly sensitive to principal
      prepayments on the mortgage loans.

      The Staff's requested change has been made of page S-13 of the Prospectus
      Supplement.

12.   Please provide us with a copy of the static pool information you intend to
      present on your Internet web site. Also, please consider providing a
      graphic presentation of the information as this will enable investors to
      grasp information more quickly and see patterns visually or explain to us
      why a graphical presentation would not aid the understanding of the static
      pool information to investors.

      Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the intended format for static pool
      disclosure

                                                                          Page 4
<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      which will appear on the Registrant's designated website when it becomes
      available. The Registrant does not currently plan to provide a graphic
      presentation of static pool data.

13.   Please include a graphical illustration or flow chart that would
      complement the narrative description of the pool distribution amount
      allocation on page S-24 and distribution on the Class A Certificates on
      page S-32 or advise why a graphical illustration among the various classes
      of certificates would not aid the understanding of the flow of funds to a
      potential investor. Refer to Item 1113(a)(2) of Regulation AB.

      In the Registrant's judgment, the narrative descriptions of the pool
      distribution amount allocation and of the principal distributions on the
      Class A Certificates present such information in a manner familiar to and
      understood by investors in mortgage-backed securities and in the
      sufficient detail to enable such investors to perform their own modeling
      activities with respect to those securities. In the Registrant's judgment,
      supplemental graphical information or flow charts would merely provide
      redundant disclosure and would do so in a less precise manner. The
      Registrant does not believe that this will aid the understanding of
      potential investors and is unaware of any expressed desire for such a
      presentation by investors in its securities.

14.   Please explain why the mortgage loans in the trust estate are "expected to
      be" secured by first liens rather than "will be" secured by first liens.

      The disclosure on page S-39 of the Prospectus Supplement has been revised
      to clarify that the mortgage loans "will be" secured by first liens.

15.   The first paragraph on page S-40 provides that the first table in Appendix
      A will set forth certain characteristics of the Mortgage Loans, Premium
      Mortgage Loans and the Discount Mortgage Loans. The first table of
      Appendix A, however, does not present separately the various pool
      characteristics for each of the Premium Mortgage Loans and Discount
      Mortgage Loans. Please add these characteristics to the "Selected Mortgage
      Loan Data" on page A-1.

      The column headings for the Premium Mortgage Loans and Discount Mortgage
      Loans, which were inadvertently omitted from Appendix A, have been
      reinserted.

16.   We note your statement that "in certain instances, exceptions to the
      Underwriting Standards may have been granted." Please add bracketed
      language to disclose the type of exceptions to underwriting standards
      affecting any of the mortgage loans

                                                                          Page 5
<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      included in the asset pool and quantify the percentage of these mortgage
      loans to the extent material.

      The Sponsor's normal mortgage loan underwriting practice is to grant
      exceptions to individual underwriting criteria if, in the judgment of the
      originator's underwriting personnel, sufficient compensating factors
      exist. The Registrant does not believe that the nature or amount of
      exceptions made to the underwriting guidelines pursuant to which the
      mortgage loans in any trust were originated will be material to investors
      in the related securities. However, to the extent that a transaction
      contains mortgage loans for which exceptions to underwriting criteria were
      granted and the Registrant concludes that such exceptions would be
      material to investors in the related securities, such exceptions to the
      underwriting criteria will be disclosed in the applicable prospectus
      supplement. Because exceptions may be made to any individual underwriting
      criteria, the Registrant cannot provide any further information about the
      nature of specific exceptions which may be present in any given
      transaction at this time.

17.   We note your disclosure on page S-49. However, it does not appear that you
      have included a table itemizing all the fees and expenses disclosure
      required by Item 1113(c) of Regulation AB. Please revise to disclose all
      of the information called for by Item 1113(c) in a tabular format. Also,
      please add this section to the table of contents.

      The Registrant has revised the presentation of fee information on page
      S-49 of the Prospectus Supplement to more clearly indicate that it is the
      tabular presentation required by Item 1113(c) of Regulation AB and to
      include information about successor compensation and other expenses
      reimbursable to the transaction parties out of cash flows on the pool
      assets.

18.   Please include the underwriter compensation information called for in Item
      508 of Regulation S-K.

      The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-53 of the Prospectus
      Supplement.

19.   It appears that the underwriter and any dealers that participate in the
      distribution of the offered certificates are underwriters under the
      Securities Act. As such, please delete to remove the phrase "may be deemed
      to be" from this section here and in the base prospectus.

                                                                          Page 6
<PAGE>

Jennifer G. Williams, Esq.
December 21, 2005

      The Staff's requested change has been made at page S-53 of the Prospectus
      Supplement and at page 128 of the Base Prospectus.

20.   Refer to footnote 1 to the table for "Selected Mortgage Loan Data" on page
      A-1. Please quantify the percentage of the mortgage loans for which FICO
      Scores are not available to the extent material.

      The Registrant will add the reque