The examinations of the Federal Home Loan Banks’ community investment programs were not up to par, according to a recent report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, which faulted the program for having examiners review their own work. The report noted that the quality control reviews of community investment examinations didn’t meet FHFA’s standard for independence. In other words, the examination specialists who performed the quality control reviews for community investment examinations didn’t follow FHFA’s guidelines because the specialist was not independent of the examination process. In fact, the IG noted, “All 11 quality control reviews of community investment examinations conducted during the 2017...

New guidance issued to the Federal Home Loan Banks focuses on making sure the banks are properly pricing the funding they offer. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said the banks have introduced a diverse array of advance products to meet the changing needs of their members over the years. In a recent advisory bulletin, the regulator directs the banks to be certain that the cost to issue debt, plus administrative and operating costs, does not surpass the minimum ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the Treasury Department’s support when it comes to appraisal waivers, according to a newly published report this week from the Treasury on nonbank financials, fintech and innovation. A portion of the report focused on updating activity-specific regulations under the realm of lending and servicing. Treasury explained that it supports the GSEs’ efforts to implement standardized appraisal reporting, their adoption of proprietary electronic portals to submit appraisal forms and the GSEs’ limited adoption of appraisal waivers. The report acknowledged concerns from the appraisal industry but touted the benefits of using the waivers. “While Treasury acknowledges that

The Federal Home Loan Bank System saw a 13 percent yearly increase in earnings during the second quarter of 2018. The FHLBank’s Office of Finance reported that net income was $971 million for the quarter, up from $858 million in the first quarter. And for the entire first half of the year net income totaled $1.829 billion, an increase of 10 percent from a year earlier. The OF attributes the upswing to an increase in net interest income that was partially offset by lower non-interest income. [Includes one data chart.]

If nonbanks and real estate investment trusts eventually gain access to the Federal Home Loan Bank system – and the discount borrowing window – they can credit the FHLBank of Chicago, which continues to push the membership issue in Congress.

Efforts in the Senate and House to reverse the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s rule that ended captive insurer membership in the Federal Home Loan Banks is getting pushback from a handful of FHLBanks. Six FHLBank presidents wrote lawmakers to express their strong opposition to reversing the final rule on FHLB membership issued in January 2016. They included the FHLBanks of Des Moines, New York, Pittsburgh, Topeka, Boston and Dallas. Among them, they serve financial institutions in 33 states. Despite receiving hundreds of comments against the proposed rule, the FHFA implemented the ban because it was concerned about the growing number of captive insurers gaining FHLBank membership access to take advantage of cheaper financing.

A proposed rule that was touted to give Federal Home Loan Banks more flexibility in allocating their affordable housing funds is catching heat from many industry stakeholders. In fact, many deemed the proposed rule, issued on March 14, too complex to digest during the initial 60-day comment period and asked for an extension. One of the groups, the National Association of Home Builders, said, “The complexity and magnitude of the revision make the 60-day comment period an extremely difficult timeframe in which to assess and respond to the proposal.”The comment period was extended by 30 days and closed last week. There were 404 comments in all and more than 100 came in on June 12, the last day to offer input.

Banks and thrifts reported holding $554.0 billion of Federal Home Loan Bank advances at the end of March, a quarterly decrease of 4.9 percent and the lowest volume of advances since the first quarter of 2017 when they stood at $522.5 billion, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis.On a year-over-year basis, that represents a 6.0 percent increase in advances overall. While JPMorgan Chase remains in the number one spot with $56.9 billion in advances, that number continues to represent a downward spiral from the previous four quarters. In the first quarter, Chase had $60.6 billion in advances.

Reverse mortgage lenders started out strong in the first three month of 2018 with a 19.2 percent increase in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage production from the previous period. HECM endorsements totaled $5.4 billion in the first quarter, with purchase reverse loans accounting for the bulk of originations, 81.9 percent. First quarter production was up 18.5 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, HECM mortgage-backed securities issuance totaled $2.97 billion for the quarter, down from $3.25 billion in the prior quarter, Ginnie Mae data showed. The top five HECM originators in sequential order – American Advisors Group, Reverse Mortgage Funding, One Reverse Mortgage, Liberty Home Equity Solutions, and Synergy One Lending – accounted for $1.66 billion, or 30.8 percent, of total production during the first quarter. American Advisors maintained its top ranking with $841.4 million of HECM loans, which ... [Charts]

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle lost another round recently when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled to dismiss its mortgage-backed securities claim against RBS Securities, even in light of newly discovered information in the case. In the suit, the FHLBank of Seattle alleged that it relied on RBS’ prospectus supplement to purchase $200 million in MBS back in 2006. The plaintiff said that the information provided about the MBS was not sufficient, and in fact, it included “untrue or misleading” statements. This was in relation to the loan-to-value ratio of the loans as well as the origination and underwriting...