FHFA quietly increased the cap on the GSEs’ holdings of agency MBS from $40 billion apiece to $225 billion. That’s the same as the cap on their entire retained mortgage portfolios.

Columbia University researchers dispute the conventional wisdom that says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dramatically overpay CRT investors.

The flexibility is part of an effort by Ginnie Mae to make its digital collateral program more attractive.

A mortgage with a prepayment penalty might be as much as 65 basis points cheaper for borrowers, according to GSE shareholder Bill Ackman.

Federal banking regulators issued a final rule to adjust the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio that applies to large banks. The directive aims to increase bank investments in low-risk assets, including Ginnie Mae MBS.

Bill Ackman’s plan calls for Treasury to forgive its senior preferred shares, a strategy that some industry observers say would be politically risky for President Trump.

Securities industry stakeholders say preservation of the secondary mortgage market, especially MBS futures trading on the TBA market, is essential to keeping mortgage rates low.

While the Fed is moving away from purchases of agency MBS, portfolio managers at PIMCO believe additional purchases are warranted. In the meantime, the GSEs are increasing their investments.

Beginning in December, the Federal Reserve will adjust its balance sheet strategy and no longer reinvest proceeds from payoffs of agency MBS into more MBS.

Neither Fannie nor Freddie issued any green bonds in the third quarter, though social bond issuance has been relatively healthy.