Watt’s GSE Capital Concerns Grow as He Hints at Taking Action, Recommends Congress Act Fast on Mortgage Reform
May 12, 2017
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt is prepared to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build some type of capital buffer to avoid a Treasury draw that could weaken investor confidence. But some lawmakers vehemently disagreed with his views during a hearing in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week. Watt reiterated his concern about the declining capital buffer, which is scheduled to reach zero by 2018 under the preferred stock purchase agreements that set the terms of the conservatorships of the two government-sponsored enterprises. With no capital buffer, Fannie and Freddie would be forced...