Capital

The Connecticut bank said its newly minted president, Steven Sugarman, successfully led a private placement and signed a long-term employment agreement that makes him a potential CEO. David Lowery, current chief executive of Patriot, plans to step down in April.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based bank hired Steven Sugarman to be its president. The former bank CEO, who now heads one of the country's largest mission-based lenders, will help drive an effort to close a capital gap.

To honor Stevens, who started in the secondary market where dry mortgage notes are sold to investors, let's delve into why the B3E proposal is badly constructed.

Because the measure of the insurance fund's soundness remained well above its target, trade groups asked whether the cost of coverage could be further reduced.

The impact on things like servicing rights would raise costs even for lenders that aren't banks, according to Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit. Others disagree.

But at the same time, the publicly traded company is selling off another type of housing finance asset to some large depository institutions.

Consumer advocates are protesting specific risk-weighting changes affecting borrowers with lower down payments. Also, a broader increase in requirements may discourage depository holdings of servicing.

This year's assessment for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the first to take into account a January agreement between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department that allowed the companies to retain more earnings.

States have the option of adopting the oversight framework issued by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which resembles capital and liquidity plan proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The bank said the move will give it more flexibility for raising capital.