Federal banking regulators announced this week that capital requirements set to take effect in January for all but the biggest banks would be suspended under a proposed rule. The proposal applies to Basel III capital requirements for mortgage servicing rights, among other items. The regulators said they are developing a proposal that would simplify capital rules to reduce regulatory burden, particularly for community banks. The proposed suspension generally applies to banks with less than $250 billion in total assets. Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said...
One lobbyist told Inside Mortgage Finance this week he believes that Watt eventually will strike a deal on the issue with Treasury, but he was uncertain how it might play out.
The proposed $4.3 billion merger of single-family rental operators Invitation Homes and Starwood Waypoint Homes will create a corporate landlord with 82,000 homes – and a behemoth of a potential client for Fannie Mae and possibly Freddie Mac. Earlier this year, Fannie agreed to provide Invitation Homes with $1 billion in financing. The deal broke new ground for the government-sponsored enterprise, but it also raised questions about whether a government-owned entity that received billions in taxpayer assistance should be lending money to a company (Invitation Homes) grubstaked by Wall Street. Since the Invitation-Fannie arrangement was unveiled, no other significant SFR financing vehicles involving a GSE has...