FHLBank-Chicago Delays 3Q Earnings

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which operates the bank system's Mortgage Partnership Finance program, said Monday that it will delay reporting third-quarter earnings because of concerns about derivative accounting.A spokesman for the bank told MortgageWire that the FHLBank hopes to release third-quarter results sometime "during the next couple of weeks." The FHLBank issued a statement saying an outside consulting firm -- which it would not name -- has advised the bank to change the way it accounts for certain derivatives under FAS 133. The FHLBank uses derivatives to hedge its MPF assets as well as its advances. "The most significant change affecting the bank's financial statements involves the method of accounting for certain payer or receiver swaptions" under FAS 133, it said. The bank now plans to directly account for changes in the value of the swaptions as either income or expense.