The Federal Home Loan Bank System increased its earnings by 6 percent in the fourth quarter and saw an 18.7 percent increase for all of 2016. Earnings rose in the last three months of the year to $913 million, from $861 million in the third quarter, rounding out the year with a net income total of $3.408 billion. The FHLBank Office of Finance noted that the quarterly net income increase was primarily due to higher gains on derivatives and hedging activities. Moreover, higher gains on litigation settlements helped grow both the quarterly and yearly increase. Additionally, the yearly earnings growth was due to gains on trading securities, partially offset by lower gains on derivatives and hedging activities, said the OF.