The amount of collateral securing advances at the Federal Home Loan Banks increased by 12 percent, to $688 billion, at the end of 2014, according to a newly released report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The report provides details of the levels of collateral pledged to the FHLBanks securing advances. Listing was the most used form of collateral as of the end of 2014, and accounted for 49 percent of collateral pledged. This was followed by blanket pledges, a lien on all or specific categories of a member’s assets, which was 39 percent of collateral pledged. Both were up 2 percent from the previous years. The report noted that FHLBanks typically give members greater borrowing capacity when...