The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has widened its investigation of Freddie Mac's accounting scandal to examine the role Wall Street securities firms may have played in helping the giant mortgage company create artificial losses and smooth out its earnings."We are in the process of reviewing the counterparty roles in the transactions relative to our Freddie Mac investigation," an OFHEO spokeswoman said. The Wall Street Journal reported that OFHEO is looking at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup as well as other securities firms. An internal Freddie Mac investigation, known as the Doty Report, revealed numerous transactions that Freddie Mac conducted to smooth out its earnings. In one transaction, Freddie created a giant $30 billion mortgage-backed security that briefly changed hands with a counterparty. Freddie repurchased the security and booked a $726 million loss.
-
The lender recorded a $59 million net loss in the fourth quarter, an 83% improvement from its third quarter performance.
11h ago -
Initial analyses of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data show UWM ahead in 2023 loan numbers and dollar volume, but Rocket's market share still looks competitive.
March 28 -
Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
March 28 -
The pending end of the program comes as over half of U.S. states have already ceased accepting new applicants for federal aid aimed to help struggling households with mortgage payments.
March 28 -
But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
March 28 -
Mortgage payments rose 10% year-over-year to an all-time high for March, Redfin said.
March 28