The Federal Reserve Bank of New York received applications for $668.94m of loans to buy up commercial mortgage-backed securities through the Fed’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). The TALF program is aimed at stimulating lending by allowing private investors to purchase securities with a matching government investment. Back in mid-May, the Fed announced certain high-quality CMBS would qualify as eligible collateral under the program. The extension of eligibility to include legacy CMBS is intended to promote price discovery and liquidity for legacy CMBS, the Fed says. The July 16 facility, which received the $668.94m of bids, offers two types of loans: The fixed 3-year loans bear a 3.02% interest rate and a maturation date of July 24, 2012, while fixed 5-year loans bear 3.87% maturity with a maturation date of July 24, 2014. It marks the first batch of bids for participation in the CMBS market. The Fed’s June 16 facility received no bids, indicating a stark turnaround in interest in the CMBS branch of the program in just a month. Write to Diana Golobay.