Watt Voices Concerns on FHLBank Short-Term Funding Reliance
June 2, 2017
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt is worried that the Federal Home Loan Banks are relying too much on short-term funding of long-term assets. He called this a “funding mismatch.” Watt spoke at the FHLBank Annual Director’s Conference last week about the banks’ performance and said they reported strong net earnings of $3.4 billion in the last quarter. However, he also dished on a couple of supervisory priorities and said he was most concerned about a funding mismatch.” Watt acknowledged that changes in the rules on money market funds have been a significant driver of investor appetite for short-term FHLBank paper, but noted that the FHLBanks can’t afford to think it will always be that way.