Fannie Invests in Chickasaw-Owned Bank

Fannie Mae has announced a $1.5 million deposit to Bank2, Oklahoma City, a state-chartered bank owned by the Chickasaw Nation, to help generate affordable housing for underserved families and increase homeownership among Native Americans.Fannie said the Community Development Financial Institution certificate of deposit investment was made under the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service program, which allows funds above the federal deposit insurance ceiling of $100,000 to be fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The first such deposit investment for Fannie Mae, it is part of Fannie's CDFI Initiative to increase financial backing for CDFIs investing in affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. Fannie's Oklahoma Partnership Office director, Rex Smitherman, said Fannie Mae will increase its investments to support tribal housing initiatives to at least $1.25 billion over the next decade as part of the American Dream Commitment to expand the supply of affordable housing. "Our investment will expand on the work we're doing with 147 tribes across the country to date," he said. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.