Fed Chief: Let GSEs Securitize $1M Loans

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Thursday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be allowed to securitize loans of up to $1 million as a way to alleviate the mortgage credit crunch.Currently, Fannie and Freddie cannot purchase or securitize loans larger than $417,000 -- their loan limit "cap." The Fed chairman said the government could act as a guarantor to aid Fannie and Freddie in securitizing jumbos. "Suppose that the GSEs were to pay their usual mortgage insurance credit fee to the government, which then acted as guarantor so it would be taking away the credit risk from the GSEs," he told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. "They could process these jumbo loans and sell them in the secondary market." Approval for the government-sponsored enterprises to securitize jumbos would need congressional approval.