The Senate this week approved by unanimous consent a narrow bill to reverse hefty pay hikes for the chief executive officers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A similar bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee this summer with heavy bipartisan support, and the White House has signaled it has no objections to the measure. But the Senate steered clear of more controversial proposals regarding the two government-sponsored enterprises, including language sought by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, barring the Department of Treasury from selling its senior preferred stock in the GSEs without approval from Capitol Hill. According to reports, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, put...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to explore more front-end risk-sharing transactions while continuing to issue their popular debt offerings that pay investors based on the performance of reference pools of newly originated mortgages. Redwood Trust has done front-end risk-share deals with both Fannie and Freddie. The most recent was a transaction with Freddie in the third quarter, which covered a $1 billion pool and Redwood absorbing the first 1 percent of credit losses on the delivered loans. “Redwood expects...

A stable private mortgage insurance industry is expected to emerge as the residential real estate market continues its recovery but uncertainty related to new risk-based regulatory capital standards from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners could derail or hinder progress, according to a new analysis by Fitch Ratings. So far, the MI industry has returned to profitability with more stability in the market and the continued presence of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the residential market. Stronger regulatory standards bode well for the industry’s stability as well, Fitch noted. The long-term viability of the MI industry does not appear...

Back in the early years after the financial crisis, Fannie and Freddie accounted for 60.0 percent or more of primary-market originations...

GSE watchers anticipate the salary cap legislation will be signed into law this fall.

Bank of America still leads the industry in buybacks with $539 million on a year-to-date basis, or 28.5 percent of the total for all banks.

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Ocwen may have a long way to go in meeting its production dreams...

Fannie Mae had a slight increase in HARP activity and accounted for 59.3 percent of the total for the two GSEs...

In 2Q, the GSEs earned $8.8 billion combined. Multiply that by four (quarters) and then three (years) and you get $105.6 billion.

Two companies – Wells Fargo and Bank of America – accounted for virtually all of the decline in bank MSR holdings during the second quarter.