Finance

The case against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is stronger than the argument for their survival.

Andrew Jetter is stepping down as the chief executive of Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka after serving as the president and the chief executive for 14 years.

Ginnie Mae, at the urging of the mortgage industry, has revised the wording of the acknowledgment agreements necessary to finance servicing rights. It hopes the move improves Ginnie MSRs' liquidity.

So now what? New York Community Bancorp and Astoria Financial have been mum about why they nixed their merger agreement, or where they go next, but the companies have a surprising number of options in the current climate.

Smaller companies that perform servicing are rapidly growing their loan portfolios — and not just in the default servicing space.

Credit Suisse Group may reach an agreement as soon as this week to settle a U.S. investigation into its handling of mortgage-linked securities before the 2008 financial crisis, Reuters reported.

A legislative proposal would expand Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's use of specially-created debt securities to share their risk with private investors, but such risk transfer deals are not a replacement for core capital.

Deutsche Bank may reach a deal as early as Wednesday to settle allegations by the Department of Justice that it misled investors when selling mortgage-backed securities, Reuters reported.

PHH Corp. plans to close a Buffalo, N.Y.-area office next year, which will result in the layoff of 80 employees, extending the staff reductions already taken in 2016.

Although Steven Mnuchin has close ties to Wall Street and was involved in some contentious deals, Democrats face an uphill battle making the case that those connections disqualify him to serve as Treasury secretary.

JPMorgan is returning to a familiar structure as it again pools large-market prime jumbo mortgages for investors in collateralized residential mortgage loans.

Rising interest rates have turned mortgage lenders' post-election outlook on profit margins bearish, according to Fannie Mae.

A regulatory 2017 scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls on the firms to transfer a significant portion of credit risk to third-party private investors on at least 90% of unpaid principal balance of newly acquired single-family mortgages.

Mortgage rates moved higher for the seventh consecutive week, a sign that the markets are still in flux after the presidential election, Freddie Mac said.

When Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20, Democratic appointees across the government are expected to follow him out the door, to be replaced by officials chosen by Donald Trump. Not Mel Watt — he isn't planning to go anywhere.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will replace the expiring Home Affordable Mortgage Program with a new loss mitigation option called the Flex Modification.

The surge in mortgage rates since the November election is expected to offset the increase to lenders' short-term funding costs following the Federal Open Markets Committee's 25-basis-point increase to the federal funds rate.

The Federal Open Market Committee agreed unanimously Wednesday to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, a move that was widely anticipated by markets. The committee's expectations for interest rates in 2017, however, were more varied.

Credit Suisse Group must face New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's $10 billion lawsuit accusing the bank of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday in a split decision.

Interest rates may climb to 3% on 10-year Treasuries by next year as deficits and inflation rise under a Donald Trump presidency and that would hurt the housing market, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer of DoubleLine Capital.