As mortgage servicers in the U.S. cope with growing criticism over the pace of foreclosures, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are becoming stealth targets, with critics accusing them of facilitating the foreclosure debacle. During a hearing last week in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee...
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week issued a proposed rule that would establish the conditions and procedures for Federal Home Loan Banks to voluntarily merge, a prospect that might seem more tempting after all the turmoil the Banks have endured since the housing market’s collapse. But given the fact that all 12 of the FHLBanks turned...
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The GSEs saw their combined share of new mortgage-backed securities issuance and new originations in the third quarter recapture the ground lost in the second quarter, largely due to the strength of refinance activity during the period. Between the two of them, Fannie and Freddie registered...[Includes two data charts]
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Industry representatives tilted somewhat in the favorable direction in terms of their reaction to the news that President Obama has called upon North Carolina Commissioner of Banks Joseph Smith to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “He is a well rounded...
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House Republicans are wasting little time in putting the heat on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency – this time, over the amount of money the GSEs are paying for the legal defense of former Fannie and Freddie executives. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-TX, a senior Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, has asked...
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are warning the Securities and Exchange Commission that one of its proposed new disclosure requirements on representations and warranties related to asset-backed securities offerings could significantly mislead investors in GSE securities, with little gained in return. “The GSEs believe...
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The Government Accountability Office has provided a briefing to members of Congress on the possible structural reform options for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that largely focuses on the pros and cons of what could prove to be the most politically acceptable choice: a cooperative model. Released last week, the GAO briefing concluded...
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The Federal Home Loan Banks as a group are seeing further strengthening in their capital ratios and their retained earnings, recent data from the Office of Finance show. Back in 2007, the Banks’ regulatory capital ratio was at a low of 4.4 percent, slightly higher...
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With the end of the third quarter, the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks stepped one fiscal quarter closer to the day their collective obligation to help finance the savings-and-loan bailout will be satisfied. The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 required...
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