The Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to propose a new risk-based capital rule for the GSEs based on current operations to replace the old Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight capital regulation.But just like the OFHEO rules, the proposed ones will be suspended as long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in conservatorship. Having a capital framework is useful when it comes to evaluating business decisions, according to FHFA Director Mel Watt. But he was quick to emphasize that the proposal is not based on some grand scheme to promote recapitalizing the GSEs. In fact, it’s largely an exercise that Watt said is...

Brookings Encourages Fannie to Expand CRT Market. The Brookings Institute applauds Fannie Mae’s credit-risk transfer program in a paper published this week, but said the GSE should increase the amount of credit it transfers to investors. The think tank also noted that guaranty fees that Fannie mortgage originators chose should be based on the implied g-fee paid to investors. Moreover, Brookings said that Fannie should continue to examine how much risk they should transfer using the Connecticut Avenue Structure program and look at past losses during times of stress. Freddie Prices Largest STACR SPI Deal to Date. Freddie Mac had its second Structured Agency Credit Risk - Securitized Participation Interests (STACR SPI) deal of the year. The $263.5 million STACR 2018 and SPI2 securities are backed by participation...

An investigation was launched last week into whether banks have been manipulating the prices in the government-sponsored enterprises’ unsecured debt.

All three agencies saw gains from April volume with Fannie posting the biggest increase…

Treasury counselor Craig Phillips advised meeting participants to assure their bosses and government affairs offices that Treasury is fully committed to the project. “If you have problems, tell them to call me,” he quipped.

At press time, it was unclear why GenEquity Mortgage closed its doors…

Home equity outstanding hit a peak of $13.43 trillion in the first quarter of 2006 then tumbled during the financial crisis...

To conservatives in the financial services industry, Mick Mulvaney is a hero.

Commercial banks and savings institutions once again reduced their holdings of mortgage servicing rights during the first quarter of 2018, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. [Includes one data chart.]

Trading in mortgage servicing rights is as good as it’s been for years, but it remains a small market full of pricing and transactional irregularities, according to industry experts speaking on a panel at the secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association last month.