GSE reform

The revised blueprint by Moelis & Co. LLC incorporates a pending regulatory capital plan for the mortgage giants.

The presumptive chair of the House Financial Services Committee will likely take the panel in a sharply new direction and have a new bully pulpit to criticize the Trump administration.

The unique approach Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are each taking with their credit-risk transfer products is quickly becoming a key point of differentiation that's rekindling competition between the government-sponsored enterprises.

The housing finance agency, which is increasingly at the forefront of reform discussions, has been without a permanent chief for almost two years.

Donald Layton, who has run the mortgage giant since 2012, discussed the busy agenda leading up to his departure and says Freddie can serve as a "technical adviser" in GSE reform talks.

As the housing market enters a new era, shifts in the demand for mortgages will ultimately dictate the direction of technology, staffing and GSE reform.

As the House Financial Services Committee prepares to hold a hearing Thursday on oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the exact focus of the hearing remains somewhat in flux.

The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are stepping down because the job they were hired to do — return the GSEs to profitability — is done. But attracting top-flight candidates to lead the mortgage giants into a new phase may not be easy.

The agency’s director has been under pressure to quit as he is investigated for sexual harassment allegations, but an agency spokesperson says he still plans to testify at a housing finance hearing slated for later this month.

The federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was never supposed to be permanent. Leaving the situation unresolved keeps the agencies undercapitalized and taxpayers exposed to their risk.