In round two of a House Financial Services subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing this week, housing finance reform talks shifted from small lender access to getting the GSEs out of conservatorship. During his testimony, Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens called the extended conservatorship, which is fast approaching a decade, economically and politically unsustainable. “The time to act on comprehensive legislative reform is now,” he said. While Stevens acknowledged that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has taken positive steps as conservator, he reiterated his view that only Congress can provide the “legitimacy and public confidence needed for long-term stability in both the primary and secondary markets.”
Brian Vieaux, a senior vice president of third-party originations, said loan brokers are an “extension” of Flagstar’s reach through the retail channel.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earnings remained strong in the third quarter as the GSEs posted a combined $7.7 billion in net income. Fannie reported $3.02 billion, a 5.5 percent decline from the prior quarter. Freddie posted $4.67 billion, more than double the $1.66 billion reported in the second quarter. While the combined number is well above the $4.86 billion total booked in the previous quarter, the bulk of it is attributed to a legal settlement windfall with the Royal Bank of Scotland over non-agency mortgage-backed securities sold to the GSEs. Freddie received the lion’s share of the taxable settlement with $4.5 billion and Fannie received $975 million.
The Department of Justice has announced a non-prosecution deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland, which includes a $44 million settlement, to resolve a criminal probe of the bank’s activities in non-agency MBS and collateralized loan obligations. The probe accused the bank of defrauding more than 30 customers that purchased residential and commercial MBS as well as ABS over a five-year period beginning in 2008. The group that handled the sales of these securities for RBS was ...
This week, the government-sponsored enterprises reported combined earnings of $7.69 billion in the third quarter of 2017, which was up almost $3 billion from the previous period. As the end of the year approaches, they also continue to reduce their retained investment portfolios as mandated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earnings were boosted by a legal settlement with the Royal Bank of Scotland over non-agency MBS ... [Includes one data chart]
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