FHFA

Mark Calabria said he wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take preliminary steps by Jan. 1 toward exiting conservatorship.

In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has named three senior advisers for policy, economics and communications.

Investors can now exchange certain existing Freddie Mac bonds for to-be-announced uniform mortgage-backed securities in preparation for the full launch of UMBS next month.

Fannie Mae is considering sharing more risk with the private sector to reduce future strain on its earnings from the implementation of the Current Expected Credit Loss accounting standard next year.

Recapitalizing the GSEs by cutting off returns to the government would essentially be buying the GSEs from the taxpayers with money that belongs to the taxpayers.

New FHFA Director Mark Calabria isn't just charting a future for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also fixing problems resulting from the "qualified mortgage" exemption for the GSEs and taking a "deep dive" into problems in the mortgage servicing market.

Adolfo Marzol, who has served as an adviser to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, will now report to the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The new head of the agency regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be at the forefront of reforming the housing finance system.

A bipartisan proposal would allow for the removal of the FHFA director if the agency approves CEO salary increases at Fannie and Freddie beyond $600,000.