Some GSE observers see the Treasury Department’s Christmas Eve reprieve of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a de facto admission by the Obama administration that the status quo – with the GSEs stuck in limbo as tools to implement White House policy – will continue as long as the real estate and housing finance markets remain in turmoil. And that means efforts by policymakers to restructure... Read More

After taking repeated poundings due to its holdings of non-agency mortgage-backed securities over consecutive quarters, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston started off the New Year by implementing changes to its collateral policies for non-traditional and subprime loans. The changes range from higher “haircuts” on some non-traditional and subprime loans; restrictions on... Read More

Despite historically low mortgage interest rates, the pace of new securitization activity at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac slowed dramatically in the waning months of 2009, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside the GSEs. Together, Fannie and Freddie produced $213.41 billion of new single-family mortgage-backed securities during the fourth quarter... [Includes one chart] Read More

Treasury’s 11th-hour changes to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements it struck with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is playing far better among analysts that cover the mortgage-backed securities market than it is among members of Congress and GSE critics. The expanded funding commitment from Treasury “takes unplanned receivership off the table as an endgame for the GSEs,” said... Read More

Once Congress gets back to its normal schedule this month, lawmakers are expected to weigh in with some severe criticism and scrutiny of the big pay packages that the Obama administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency approved for the executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Christmas Eve. Informed sources suggest the key rub for members of Congress will be the fact that the... Read More

Missed during the initial excitement on Wall Street that was generated by the federal government’s decision to substantively upgrade its financial commitment to the GSEs over the next three years was the apparent repudiation of the value of both companies’ stock by the companies’ own boards. The big pay packages of base salary and deferred compensation that were awarded by... Read More

Some participants in and observers of the mortgage-backed securities market wonder if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will step in and fill the void that is expected when the Federal Reserve decides to step back from the massive amount of support it has provided the agency market over the last 18 months or so. The question is even more timely now that the Treasury... [Includes one chart] Read More

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is on course to alter the process by which successor directors are chosen after a Federal Home Loan Bank directorship is re-designated to a new state before the end of its term as a result of the annual designation of Bank directorships. FHLBank member directorships are generally allocated among the states of each Bank district in proportion to the... Read More

Certain Venture Capital Funds Could Become FHLB Members: The Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing a broadening of the membership base for the Federal Home... Freddie Director Alexander Won't Seek Re-Election: Barbara Alexander, one of Freddie Mac's directors, will not seek re-election to the company's board when her current... Read More