GSE reform

The regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises has substantial authority to intervene as a legislative stalemate continues.

The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled an FHFA oversight hearing for September in the wake of waste, fraud and abuse allegations.

The biggest impact may be to focus the administration’s efforts on selecting a nominee to succeed Director Mel Watt, whose term ends in January.

Fannie Mae’s treatment of a reperforming loan package helped drive up earnings by almost 41% to $4.5 billion, delivering a stronger dividend to Treasury ahead of a leadership change.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship nearly a decade after the financial crisis, and there’s still no end in sight.

The agency said multiple stakeholders had requested more time to evaluate the proposal.

Whoever succeeds current Director Mel Watt will have a front-and-center role in efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The House Financial Services Committee chair also acknowledged that his capital-formation bill still faces a potentially tough Senate vote.

Michael Bright co-wrote a paper in 2016 that envisioned making the agency a backstop for the housing finance system, but appeared to distance himself from the proposal at his confirmation hearing.

The announcement comes as Fannie Mae promoted David Benson to serve as president of the government-sponsored enterprise.

With ruling in GSE case, the two agencies are emerging as the test subjects for a legal showdown over their authority.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need to tap into U.S. Treasury funds when they adopt CECL, a new accounting rule that makes companies set aside money upfront for expected loan losses.

A Fannie Mae test to handle the private mortgage insurance process for lenders may raise concerns that it's going outside the scope of its secondary market mission. But the effort reflects its mandate to explore new credit-risk transfer alternatives, a company executive said.

A more conservative court will be likelier to rule favorably on issues ranging from the deference for regulatory agencies to what constitutes a fair-lending violation.

The Trump administration's plan to end the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac marked its first effort to solve a problem left over from the financial crisis, but ultimately raised more questions than it answered.

Meet the new housing finance reform plan, same as the old ones. While that gives it legs, it also presents big challenges.

The plan would end the GSE conservatorships and create an explicit federal guarantee, but it's unclear if even other parts of the Trump administration support it.

The groups applauded a proposal to establish minimum GSE capital requirements, but called for more immediate steps to release the companies from conservatorship.

Risk management and technology systems at the Federal Housing Administration lag decades behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and desperately need to be revamped, according to a top official at HUD.

No plan will be implemented as long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship, but a capital framework for the companies could still have a substantive impact.