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Inside The GSEs

August 18, 2010

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Some Consensus Emerges on Next-Gen GSEs

A faint outline of what shape the U.S. mortgage finance system might take in the future began to emerge this week as the Obama administration convened its first big policy summit on the subject, after having delayed its consideration until financial regulatory reform legislation was done. One concept that seemed to have widespread support was... Read More

FHFA to Improve Collateral Policy Oversight

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has agreed to make some improvements to its oversight of the alternative collateral policies of the Federal Home Loan Banks after the Government Accountability Office examined the way the FHFA regulates such policies and found it inadequate in some respects. Back in 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act authorized... Read More

Improved GSE Financials to Weaken Overhaul Push

After almost two years of being banished into the underworld of federal conservatorship with very little hope in sight, to await their fate at the hands of the gods, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to have bottomed out and may be setting a trajectory toward a return to at least break-even status. Politically, that’s a huge step forward for the companies, because... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Is it Time to Cut Treasury’s Take? Realtors Think So

By the time the U.S. Treasury responds to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s request for additional capital to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac afloat, the GSEs will have absorbed $150.2 billion from the U.S. taxpayer to help cover the massive losses the companies have suffered in the collapse of the mortgage and credit markets. But now the biggest hurdle Fannie and Freddie may face in a return to positive earnings is... Read More

FHFA Restricts GSEs from Private Transfer Fee Loans

The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week issued a Notice of Proposed Guidance that would restrict Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages with private transfer fee covenants, which require a transfer fee upon each resale of a given property, sometimes for as long as 99 years. The covenants are controversial because... Read More

Finance Agency Proposes Office of Ombudsman

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would establish an Office of the Ombudsman within the agency. The office, the creation of which was mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, would be responsible for... Read More

NYFed Economists Extol Private Cooperative Model

A handful of economists at the New York Federal Reserve recently laid out six key principles for reforming the nation’s housing finance system, and then went on to suggest the best model to fulfill those principles must just be a private lender cooperative. The first of the key principles was to preserve... Read More

News In Brief

Are FHLBs Keeping PACE?... Treasury Holdings of GSE MBS Dropped Last Month... Ex-Fannie Exec Sues Over Dismissal; Rep. Bachus Calls for a Hearing... Fannie Aggressively Pursued Countrywide, Document Shows... Read More

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