The Federal Home Loan Bank system earned $484 million in the third quarter of 2015 and attributes the 23 percent year-over-year decrease to net losses on derivatives and hedging activities. But total net income for the first nine months of the year saw a 29 percent jump, to $2.18 billion, according to figures compiled by the system’s Office of Finance. This was driven by higher litigation settlements and net gains on derivatives and hedging activities. After falling flat last quarter, total FHLB assets from the end of June were up at the end of the third quarter by less than 1 percent to $919.6 billion.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to reduce their retained mortgage portfolios during the third quarter by a combined $35.2 billion, a period in which Fannie reported a $2.2 billion gain in earnings while Freddie suffered a $475 million loss. Freddie Mac noted that its investments in less liquid assets were $114.2 billion at the end of the quarter, down 8 percent or $10.1 billion from the second quarter. The government-sponsored enterprise attributed this to its ongoing portfolio liquidation and the sales of $3.4 billion of non-agency MBS. Freddie also securitized $4.0 billion of single-family re-performing and modified loans. Since being placed in conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie have been...[Includes one data table]
A rule proposed late last month to impose margin requirements in the single-family “to-be-announced” market would draw in the multifamily housing finance programs of Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae, according to industry trade groups. At issue is SR-FINRA-2015-036, a proposal to amend Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rule 4210 margin requirements for TBA transactions, including adjustable-rate mortgage transactions, specified pool transactions, and transactions in collateralized mortgage obligations, issued in conformity with a program of an agency or government-sponsored enterprise, with forward settlement dates. In a letter last week to the Securities and Exchange Commission, more than a dozen industry groups expressed...
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae both reported third quarter earnings this week but the numbers were in stark contrast to one another. Freddie announced a $475 million loss and set off a firestorm of reaction surrounding a possible Treasury draw when its reserves decline to zero. Two days later, Fannie posted net earnings of $2.2 billion for the third quarter. Freddie pointed to losses on derivatives used to hedge the company’s interest rate risk as the reason for its first loss in four years. In addition to falling interest rates, Freddie marked down its investment in derivatives by $4.17 million. Don Layton, Freddie’s CEO, noted that earnings volatility “stems from our usage of derivatives to...
The House approved an amendment to remove an extension of higher guaranty fees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with strong bipartisan support. The Neugebauer-Huizenga amendment to H.R. 22, introduced by Reps. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., was adopted by the House on Nov. 5. About 30 industry trade groups, including lenders and builders, rallied behind the effort and sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan, R-WI, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, earlier this week urging that the g-fee extensions be removed. Without the amendment, a 10 basis point surcharge on Fannie and Freddie g-fees that went into effect in 2012 could have ended up...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized $68.13 billion of single-family mortgages in October, an 8.2 percent decline from the previous month, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of mortgage-backed securities disclosures. The slowdown appears to be based on seasonal decline in home-purchase activity. The volume of purchase mortgages securitized by Fannie fell 15.3 percent, while Freddie’s purchase-mortgage activity dropped 11.6 percent. Fannie’s refinance activity was off 1.0 percent from September, while Freddie saw a 5.8 percent increase in its refi business for the month. Overall, Freddie single-family MBS issuance was down 7.2 percent from September, while Fannie’s volume fell 9.2 percent. On a year-to-date basis, both GSEs were still well ahead of the pace they set during the first 10 months of 2014.
With the GSEs’ capital reserve expected to hit zero by 2018, and in the wake of Freddie Mac’s third quarter earnings loss, industry leaders and observers have shifted their attention to addressing the possibility of a future draw from Treasury. Freddie posted a $475 million loss in the third quarter after marking down its investment in derivatives by $4.17 billion. This is the first time in four years that the GSE had a quarterly loss. Donald Layton, Freddie’s CEO, said in an earnings call that this loss represented 28 percent of the allowed capital reserve of $1.8 billion, so there’s no draw requested from the U.S. Treasury, but that didn’t stop speculation on what happens in the event of future losses.
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