Housing is showing some traction, but heavy regulation and enforcement continue to weigh on the mortgage market, according to analysts at this week’s secondary-market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association in New York. Charles Gabriel, president of Capital Alpha Advisors, said there are some green shoots in the mortgage market, including signs of more home sales. But he characterized it as “a mature market that is suboptimized.” Lenders have paid massive penalties in lawsuits, he added, and there is no sign that they will expand the credit box. “U.S. Bank was asked...

The noise over regulatory relief legislation is getting louder. Over the past week, Republicans in the Senate issued a clarification of sorts about their draft legislation, Democrats came up with a narrower alternative and the industry weighed in as the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee prepared for a markup scheduled for late this week. A noteworthy provision in the Democrats’ proposal would extend qualified-mortgage status for loans originated and held in portfolio – but only if the depository institution has less than $10 billion in assets. The GOP bill would extend this safe harbor to all banks, thrifts and credit unions. The Democratic proposal would bar...

A draft of legislation unveiled this week by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, includes provisions that would support portfolio lenders and real estate investments trusts, among a myriad of other issues. Support from Democrats for some of the provisions in the draft has been tepid, and it’s not clear that President Obama would sign a bill without changes. The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015 aims to “improve access to credit and reduce the level of risk in our financial system,” ...

In efforts to encourage and promote diversity, the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Office of Finance were directed to include demographic data pertaining to their boards of directors in its annual minority and women inclusion reports submitted to the Federal Housing Finance Authority. “FHFA’s minority and women inclusion regulations reflect the importance the agency places on diversity and inclusion,” said Sharron Levine, associate director at FHFA’s Office of Minority & Women Inclusion. “The amendments to the regulation focus attention on the Federal Home Loan Banks’ responsibility to promote diversity in nominating or soliciting nominees for positions on their respective boards of directors.” The banks and Office of Finance must now be more specific and include descriptions of their outreach activities and....

The House passed a bill last week that would allow privately-insured credit unions to apply for membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. H.R. 299, the Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act of 2015, was introduced by Reps. Joyce Beatty, D-OH, and Steve Stivers, R-OH, in January. Credit unions did not have federal insurance until 1970, and Stivers said that many small institutions decided to remain privately-insured and state regulated. While the number is small compared to the more than 6,000 credit unions in the country, the approximately 130 privately-insured credit unions spread out in nine states don’t meet the FHLB System guidelines. Stivers said that a “legislative oversight” has blocked FHLB membership for this small...

While creating the largest Federal Home Loan Bank in the system, both geographically and membership wise, about 75 percent of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle workforce will be laid off due to a merger with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. The merger, approved in December by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, officially goes into effect in June, trimming the Seattle bank’s workforce to just 35 employees in the regional office. About 109 employees will be laid off before 2015 ends. Both banks unanimously approved the merger and said it will result in a cooperative that is stronger than either bank on an individual basis. Once combined, the bank will be headquartered in Des Moines.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Topeka now lets members invest in residential whole loan mortgages originated under the Mortgage Partnership Finance Program as an added opportunity and as a risk-sharing measure. This is the first time that an FHLBank has opened its shared credit risk program to members. Dan Hess, chief business officer and senior vice president of FHLBank Topeka, told Inside The GSEs that the bank has had a lot of success with the MPF program since it began 15 years ago and wanted to extend the opportunity to its members. “It’s been a high quality asset for us with a low level of defaults throughout the financial crisis,” he said.

Bank and thrift members had drawn a combined $437.7 million in Federal Home Loan Bank advances at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. That number represents an 11.6 percent increase from the previous quarter and an 18.8 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Top-ranked JPMorgan Chase’s use of advances rose 8.3 percent and reflected its largest amount of advances used sequentially during 2014. The bank had drawn $60.0 million in the third quarter. Its advances were up 5.0 percent on a year-over-year basis. Second-ranked Wells Fargo remained steady with no quarterly percentage change of its $34.1 million in advances used. [exclusive data chart included]

Despite the Federal Housing Finance Authority’s proposed rule that would block real estate investment trusts from joining a Federal Home Loan Bank through captive insurance units, the Indianapolis FHLBank approved a new REIT member. An insurance subsidiary of Five Oaks Investment Corp. was admitted on Feb. 24, according to the REIT’s 2014 annual report released this week. A handful of other REITs, including Two Harbors, Redwood Trust and Invesco ...

A moratorium of real estate investment trusts gaining membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank system ended recently when the captive insurer of Five Oaks Investment was approved as a member of the FHLBank of Indianapolis. The REIT revealed this week that Five Oaks Insurance gained FHLBank membership on Feb. 24. “FOI is currently negotiating agreements for advances with the FHLBank and, although no assurance can be given, FOI anticipates ...