Analyst Richard Bove thinks the new net worth sweep agreement is just a gimmick because the liquidation preference on Treasury’s preferred stock will offset any increase in the GSEs’ capital buffers.
Dealing with the risks in Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s portfolio is more complicated than simply reducing the footprint of the government-sponsored enterprises, FHFA Director Mark Calabria told IM&A.
As most observers expected, the Treasury reform plan leaves most of the important details for Congress or the Federal Housing Finance Agency to figure out.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shed some light on how renegotiating the preferred stock purchase agreements by the Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency might impact plans to recapitalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The department has proposed implementing a “homebuyer sustainability scorecard” to measure the performance of loans to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and first-time homebuyers.
The government-sponsored enterprises’ shareholders are hoping the Fifth Circuit’s decision holding the FHFA structure unconstitutional means the so-called net worth sweep may be invalidated.
In his first report to Congress as director, Mark Calabria describes how new accounting standards, credit-risk transfers and high interest rates cut into profits at the GSEs.
Speculation continues to mount regarding whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be allowed to retain more capital. But will such a move be a precursor to a "recap and release" plan?
Joseph Otting, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, set the rumor mills in motion last week when he told an audience at George Mason University Law School that the agency would finish work this summer on final capital rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.