Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refers to the placing into conservatorship

Conservatorship

Conservatorship is a legal concept in the United States of America, where an entity or organization is subjected to the legal control of an external entity or organization, known as a conservator. Conservatorship is established either by court order or via a statutory or regulatory authority...

of government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the U.S. Treasury in September 2008. It was one financial event among many in the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis

Subprime mortgage crisis

The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....

.

On September 6, 2008, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency

Federal Housing Finance Agency

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is an independent federal agency created as the successor regulatory agency resulting from the statutory merger of the Federal Housing Finance Board , the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight , and the U.S...

(FHFA), James B. Lockhart III

James B. Lockhart III

James B. Lockhart III assumed the position of Vice Chairman of WL Ross & Co. LLC in September 2009. WL Ross manages $9 billion of private equity investments, a hedge fund and a Mortgage Recovery Fund. It is a subsidiary of Invesco, a Fortune 500 investment management firm...

, announced his decision to place two Government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), into conservatorship

Conservatorship

run by the FHFA.

At the same press conference, United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Henry Paulson

Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...

, stated that placing the two GSEs into conservatorship was a decision he fully supported, and that he advised "that conservatorship was the only form in which I would commit taxpayer money to the GSEs." He further said that "I attribute the need for today's action primarily to the inherent conflict and flawed business model embedded in the GSE structure, and to the ongoing housing correction

United States housing market correction

A United States housing market correction is a market correction or "bubble bursting" of a United States housing bubble; the most recent began following a national home price peak first identified in July 2006. Because realty trades in illiquid markets relative to financial assets such as common...

."

The same day, Federal Reserve Bank

Federal Reserve Bank

The twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...

chairman Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke

Ben Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....

stated in support: "I strongly endorse both the decision by FHFA Director Lockhart to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and the actions taken by Treasury Secretary Paulson to ensure the financial soundness of those two companies."
The following day, Herbert M. Allison

Herbert M. Allison

Herbert M. Allison, Jr. is currently conducting a review of loans to energy companies, on behalf of the Obama administration. Mr. Allison served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability of the United States having been confirmed by the Senate onJune 19, 2009. He left the...

was appointed chief executive of Fannie Mae. He came from TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...

Background and financial market crisis

The combined GSE losses of US$14.9 billion and market concerns about their ability to raise capital and debt threatened to disrupt the U.S. housing financial market. The Treasury committed to invest as much as US$200 billion in preferred stock and extend credit through 2009 to keep the GSEs solvent and operating. The two GSEs have outstanding more than US$ 5 trillion in mortgage backed securities (MBS) and debt; the debt portion alone is $1.6 trillion.
The conservatorship action has been described as "one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in decades,"
and one that "could turn into the biggest and costliest government bailout ever of private companies".

With a growing sense of crisis in U.S. financial markets, the conservatorship action and commitment by the U.S. government to backstop the two GSEs with up to US$ 200 billion in additional capital turned out to be the first significant event in a tumultuous month among U.S.-based investment banking, financial institutions and federal regulatory bodies. By September 15, 2008, the 158 year-old Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...

holding company filed for bankruptcy with intent to liquidate its assets, leaving its financially sound subsidiaries operational and outside of the bankruptcy filing. The collapse is the largest investment bank failure since Drexel Burnham Lambert

Drexel Burnham Lambert

Drexel Burnham Lambert was a major Wall Street investment banking firm, which first rose to prominence and then was forced into bankruptcy in February 1990 by its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by Drexel employee Michael Milken. At its height, it was the...

in 1990.
The 94 year-old Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...

accepted a purchase offer by Bank of America

Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

for approximately US$ 50 billion, a big drop from a year-earlier market valuation of about US$ 100 billion. A credit rating downgrade of the large insurer American International Group

American International Group

American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...

(AIG) led to a September 16, 2008 rescue agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank

Federal Reserve Bank

for a US$85 billion dollar secured loan facility, in exchange for a warrants for 79.9% of the equity of AIG.

Previous attempts for GSE reform

The GSE business model faces inherent conflicts due its combination of government mission and private ownership. According to the American Enterprise Institute

American Enterprise Institute

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...

, a conservative think-tank: "The government mission required them to keep mortgage interest rates low and to increase their support for affordable housing. Their shareholder ownership, however, required them to fight increases in their capital requirements and regulation that would raise their costs and reduce their risk-taking and profitability. But there were two other parties—Congress and the taxpayers—that also had a stake in the choices that Fannie and Freddie made. Congress got some benefits in the form of political support from the GSEs' ability to hold down mortgage rates, but it garnered even more political benefits from GSE support for affordable housing."

In 2003, the Bush Administration sought to create a new agency, replacing the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It was charged with ensuring the capital adequacy and financial safety and soundness of two government sponsored enterprises—the Federal National Mortgage Association and the...

, to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 1992 in the wake of the Savings and Loan crisis

Savings and Loan crisis

The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...

, and over concern similar lending problems would develop, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was created as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. While Senate and House leaders voiced their intention to bring about the needed legislation, no reform bills materialized. A Senate reform bill introduced by Senator John Corzine (D-NJ) (S.1656) never made it out of the 21-member (10D/11R) Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee

United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to: banks and banking, price controls, deposit insurance, export promotion and controls, federal monetary policy, financial aid to commerce and industry, issuance of redemption of notes,...

. At the time members of the 108th congress expressed faith in the solvency of Fannie and Freddie. Congressman Barney Frank

Barney Frank

Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...

(D-MA), for example, described them as "not facing any kind of financial crisis."

In 2005, the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act, sponsored by Senator Chuck Hagel

Chuck Hagel

Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002...

(R-NE) and co-sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Dole

Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....

(R-NC), John McCain

John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

(R-AZ) and John Sununu

John E. Sununu

John Edward Sununu is a former Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire, of Lebanese and Palestinian Christian ancestry. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six year term. He is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H...

(R-NH)http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00190:@@@P, would have increased government oversight of loans given by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Like the 2003 bill, it also died in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, this time in the 109th Congress. A full and accurate record of the congressional attempts to regulate the housing GSEs is given in the Congressional record prepared in 2005.

Gerald P. O'Driscoll, the former vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas covers the Eleventh Federal Reserve District, which includes Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico....

, stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had become classic examples of crony capitalism

Crony capitalism

Crony capitalism is a term describing a capitalist economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials...

. Government backing let Fannie and Freddie dominate the mortgage-underwriting. They returned some of the profits to the politicians, sometimes directly, as campaign funds, and sometimes as "contributions to favored constituents."

Federal Housing Finance Agency and Treasury authority

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 designed primarily to address the subprime mortgage crisis. It authorized the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee up to $300 billion in new 30-year fixed rate mortgages for subprime borrowers if lenders write-down principal loan balances to 90...

—passed by the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

on July 24, 2008 and signed into law by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

on July 30, 2008 — enabled expanded regulatory authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the newly established FHFA, and gave the U.S. Treasury the authority to advance funds for the purpose of stabilizing Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac, limited only by the amount of debt that the entire federal government is permitted by law to commit to. The law raised the Treasury's debt ceiling by US$800 billion, to a total of US$10.7 trillion, in anticipation of the potential need for the Treasury to have the flexibility to support Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Federal Home Loan Banks.

Prior GSE support measures

The September 7 conservatorship was termed by The Economist as the "second" bailout of the GSEs. Prior to the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, on July 13, 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Henry Paulson

announced an effort to backstop the GSEs based on prior statutory authority, in coordination with the Federal Reserve Bank

Federal Reserve Bank

. That announcement occurred after a week in which the market values of shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell almost by half (from a previously diminished value of approximately half of year-earlier market highs).
That plan contained three measures: an increase in the line of credit available to the GSEs from the Treasury, so as to provide liquidity; the right for the Treasury to purchase equity in the GSEs, so as to provide capital; and a consultative role for the Federal Reserve

Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...

in a reformed GSE regulatory system.
On the same day, the Federal Reserve announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...

would have the right to lend to the GSEs as necessary.

Capital infusion by the Treasury

The agreement the Treasury made with both GSEs specifies that in exchange for future support and capital investments of up to US$ 100 billion in each GSE, at the inception of the conservatorship, each GSE shall issue to the Treasury US$ 1 billion of senior preferred stock

Preferred stock

Preferred stock, also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds, is a special equity security that has properties of both an equity and a debt instrument and is generally considered a hybrid instrument...

, with a 10% coupon, without cost to the Treasury.
Also each GSE contracted to issue common stock warrants

Warrant (finance)

In finance, a warrant is a security that entitles the holder to buy the underlying stock of the issuing company at a fixed exercise price until the expiry date....

representing an ownership stake of 79.9%, at an exercise price of one-thousandth of a U.S. cent ($ 0.00001) per share, and with a warrant duration of twenty years.

The conservator, FHFA signed the agreements on behalf of the GSEs.
The 100 billion amount for each GSE was chosen to indicate the level of commitment that the U.S. Treasury is willing to make to keep the financial operations and financial conditions solvent and sustainable for both GSEs. The agreements were designed to protect the senior and subordinated debt and the mortgage backed securities of the GSEs. The GSEs' common stock and existing preferred shareholders will bear any losses ahead of the government. Among other conditions of the agreement, each GSE’s retained mortgage and mortgage backed securities portfolio shall not exceed $850 billion as of December 31, 2009, and shall decline by 10% per year until it reaches $250 billion.

FHFA initial actions as conservator

In the September 6, 2008 conservatorship announcement, Lockhart indicated the following items in the plan of action for the Federal Housing Finance Agency conservatorship:

On September 8, 2008, the first business day of the conservatorship, business will be transacted normally, with stronger backing for the holders of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), senior debt and subordinated debt
Subordinated debt
In finance, subordinated debt is debt which ranks after other debts should a company fall into receivership or bankruptcy....

.
The Enterprises
Government-sponsored enterprise
A government-sponsored enterprise is a financial services corporation created by the United States Congress. Their function is to enhance the flow of credit to targeted sectors of the economy and to make those segments of the capital market more efficient and transparent...

will be allowed to grow their guarantee MBS books without limits and continue to purchase replacement securities for their portfolios, about $20 billion per month, without capital constraints.
As the conservator, the FHFA will assume the power of the Board and management.
The present Chief Executive Officers
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

(CEOs) of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been dismissed but will stay on to help with the transition.
Appointed as CEOs are Herbert M. Allison
Herbert M. Allison
Herbert M. Allison, Jr. is currently conducting a review of loans to energy companies, on behalf of the Obama administration. Mr. Allison served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability of the United States having been confirmed by the Senate onJune 19, 2009. He left the...

for Fannie Mae and David M. Moffett
David M. Moffett
David McKenzie Moffett is an American businessman and was formerly the CEO of Freddie Mac. He was previously an executive with U.S. Bancorp. He also served as senior advisor to the Carlyle Group, and has been a director at eBay since July 2007...

for Freddie Mac. Allison is former Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...

and for the last eight years chairman of TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...

. Moffett is the former Vice Chairman and CFO of US Bancorp. Their compensation will be significantly lower than the outgoing CEOs. They will be joined by equally strong non-executive chairmen.
Other management action will be very limited. The new CEOs agreed it is important to work with the current management teams and employees to encourage them to stay and to continue to make important improvements to the Enterprises.
To conserve over $2 billion annually in capital, the common stock and preferred stock dividends will be eliminated, but the common and all preferred stocks will continue to remain outstanding. Subordinated debt interest and principal payments will continue to be made.
All political activities, including all lobbying, will be halted immediately. Charitable activities will be reviewed.
There will be financing and investing relationship with the U.S. Treasury via three different financing facilities to provide critically needed support to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and also to the liquidity of the mortgage market. One of the three facilities is a secured liquidity facility, which will be not only for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also for the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks that are regulated by FHFA.

Government support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

In addition to the government conservatorship, which CBO estimates will increase the federal government's net liabilities by $238 billion, several government agencies have taken steps to increase liquidity within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Among these steps includes:

Federal Reserve purchases of $23 billion in GSE debt (out of a potential $100 billion) and $53 billion in GSE-held mortgage backed securities (out of a potential $500 billion).
Federal Reserve purchases of $24 billion in GSE debt.
Treasury Department purchases of $14 billion in GSE stock (out of a potential $200 billion).
Treasury Department purchases of $71 billion in mortgage backed securities
Federal Reserve extension of primary credit rate for loans to the GSEs

National debt accounting

The on- or off-balance sheet obligations of the two GSEs, which are "independent" corporations rather than federal agencies, are just over $5 trillion, a significant amount when compared to the $9.5 trillion of officially reported United States public debt

United States public debt

The United States public debt is the money borrowed by the federal government of the United States at any one time through the issue of securities by the Treasury and other federal government agencies...

at the time of the takeover.
The September 6, 2008 conservatorship and the subsequent planned Treasury infusion of capital support the senior liabilities, subordinated indebtedness, and mortgage guarantees of the two firms. Some observers see this as an effective nationalization of the companies that ultimately places taxpayers at risk for all their liabilities.
The federal government follows specialized accounting standards set by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board is a United States federal advisory committee whose mission is to develop generally accepted accounting principles for federal financial reporting entities....

. The net exposure to taxpayers is difficult to determine at the time of the takeover and depends on several factors, such as declines in housing prices and losses on mortgage assets in the future.
The Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....

director Peter R. Orszag

Peter R. Orszag

Peter Richard Orszag is an American economist who is a Vice Chairman of Global Banking at Citigroup. He is also a columnist at Bloomberg View...

announced on September 9, 2008 that the CBO intended to incorporate the assets and liabilities of the two companies into their federal budget planning, due to the degree of government control over the entities.
The White House Budget Director Jim Nussle, on September 12, 2008 indicated their budget plans would not incorporate the GSE debt into the budget because of the temporary nature of the conservator intervention.

Bloomberg reported that according to CMA Datavision of London that "five-year credit-default swap contracts on U.S. government debt increased 3.5 basis points on September 9, 2008 to a record 18, up from 6 basis points in April," in reaction to concerns about the potential rise in U.S. debt from bailouts.

Bank reserves

Many commercial banks in the United States own Freddie and Fannie preferred shares. Those shares have had their dividends suspended, and are junior to the senior preferred stock issued to the Treasury in the restructuring of the two companies. The market value of the preferred shares plunged after the restructuring announcement and suspension of dividends. Banks were required to write down the value of Freddie and Fannie preferred stock held in their portfolios, compounding capitalization concerns for certain U.S. banks. Gateway bank agreed to be bought out by Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. to make up for a writedown of $40 million on its stock in Fannie and Freddie, which put it below regulatory requirements to be considered adequately capitalized.

Credit default swaps

In the credit default swap

Credit default swap

A credit default swap is similar to a traditional insurance policy, in as much as it obliges the seller of the CDS to compensate the buyer in the event of loan default...

(CDS) market, the standard contracts typically used between parties to a swap define the action of placing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship to be equivalent to bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

, because of the change in management control. In CDS parlance, this is termed a credit event

Credit event

A credit event is the financial term used to describe either:* A general default event related to a legal entity's previously agreed financial obligation. In this case, a legal entity fails to meet its obligation on any significant financial transaction...

, and that triggers the settling of outstanding contracts for the derivatives, which are used to hedge

Hedge (finance)

A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses that may be incurred by a companion investment.A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, many types of...

or speculate on the potential risk that a company will default on its bonds. The two GSEs have approximately US$ 1.5 trillion in bonds outstanding, and since the market in credit default swaps is not public, there is no central reporting mechanism to verify how many credit default swaps are linked to those bonds. One estimate floated is US$ 500 billion, and that the entire CDS market has a notional value in the vicinity of US$ 62 trillion.
Settlement on the contracts, will likely be the largest in the market's decade-long history.
Credit-default swaps on Fannie and Freddie have been among the most actively traded the several months leading up to the conservatorship. "Thirteen 'major' dealers of credit-default swaps agreed 'unanimously' that the rescue constitutes a credit event triggering payment or delivery of the companies' bonds," according to a memo circulated by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association

International Swaps and Derivatives Association

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is a trade organization of participants in the market for over-the-counter derivatives....

(ISDA) after the conservatorship announcement.
The day after the conservatorship announcement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which sets industry standardized contracts for financial derivatives and swaps, announced it was working on a protocol on how to evaluate and settle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit default swaps. Most of these swaps were settled on October 6, 2008.

Paradoxically (in relation to typical experiences when a company issuing bonds has a "credit event"), the value of the two GSEs bonds rose to the vicinity of par value after the conservatorship. This means, that some owners of swaps that were hedging against the risk of a bond default, may be worse off, since the value of the bonds may be higher than when they purchased the swap. Cash auctions are reported to be scheduled for October 2008 to settle CDS contracts in relation to the GSEs.

September 2008 reactions to the seizure

The immediate reactions in the finance markets on Monday September 8, the day following the seizure, appeared to indicate satisfaction with at least the short-term implications of the Treasury's intervention. Governor of the Bank of Japan

Bank of Japan

is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo.-History:Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was founded after the Meiji Restoration...

Masaaki Shirakawa

is a Japanese economist, central banker and the 30th Governor of the Bank of Japan . He is also a Director and Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements .-Early life:...

stated "We expect the action would lead to stabilize the U.S. [mortgage-backed securities] market, financial market and the international financial market." Governor of the People's Bank of China

People's Bank of China

The People's Bank of China is the central bank of the People's Republic of China with the power to control monetary policy and regulate financial institutions in mainland China...

, China's central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan

Zhou Xiaochuan

Zhou Xiaochuan is a Chinese economist, banker, reformist and bureaucrat. As governor of the People's Bank of China since December 2002, he has been in charge of the monetary policy of the People's Republic of China....

stated "From my point of view this is positive".

Effects on the subprime mortgage crisis

The effects on the subprime mortgage crisis

Subprime mortgage crisis

have led the government to support the soundness of the obligations and guarantees on securities issued by Fannie and Freddie to obtain funds. Those funds are in turn used to purchase mortgages from originating banks. The continuing soundness of GSE obligations enhances market liquidity (loanable funds) in the following ways:

Banks can be assured that Fannie and Freddie have funds to purchase conforming loans, so they can increase such lending. This improves liquidity in the mortgage market, lowering interest rates.
In 2006, Fannie and Freddie insured 24 percent of all subprime loans so they needed to keep these loans viable.
Lower borrowing costs for banks typically increase the "spread" between the rate at which they borrow and which they lend. This increases bank profitability, shoring up bank liquidity and balance sheets further.
Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) rates are reduced, which lowers pressure on homeowners and reduces foreclosures. Lower rates also encourage new home purchases.
The government's role as the primary investor allows a systematic loan refinancing process to be implemented. This should enable rapid loan adjustments or workouts for homeowners, which have been facing bottlenecks due to the requirement to have various investors approve the adjustments. For example, the government could rapidly push-down 45-year mortgage terms and fixed, low interest rates, enabling many more homeowners to stay in their homes. This will reduce foreclosures significantly, helping to stabilize home prices.
The government can restructure mortgages so that the loan balance is reduced to the current market value, reducing the incentive for homeowners to "walk away" from the property.
With home prices more stabilized, the value of mortgage-backed securities receives some upward support.

Financial condition of Fannie and Freddie prior to takeover

Over 98 percent of Fannie's loans were paying timely during 2008. Both Fannie and Freddie had positive net worth as of the date of the takeover, meaning the value of their assets exceeded their liabilities. However, Fannie's total assets to capital (leverage ratio) was about 20:1, while Freddie's was about 70:1. These numbers increase significantly if one includes all of the mortgage-backed assets they guaranteed. These ratios are considerably higher than investment banks, which leverage around 30:1.

However, there was concern that the GSEs' liquidity was insufficient to handle growing delinquency rates, such that although viable in September 2008, the scale of loss in the future would be sufficient that insolvency would occur and that knowledge of this future failure would induce immediate or near-immediate failure due to buyers refusing to buy debt. Both GSEs roll-over large amounts of debt on a quarterly basis and failure to sell debt would lead to failure due to lack of liquidity. A slower form of failure would be the issuing of debt at high cost (to compensate buyers for risk) and this would greatly diminish the earning power of both GSEs, rendering them unable to earn the money they would need to handle expected future losses. Both GSEs counted large amounts of deferred tax assets towards their regulatory capital, which were considered by some to be of "low quality" and not truly available capital. The deferred tax assets would only have value if the companies were profitable and could use the assets to offset future taxes. Both companies had experienced significant losses and were likely to face more over the next year or longer.

Ongoing status of Fannie and Freddie conservatorship

In testimony before a House Financial Services Committee subcommitee on June 3, 2009, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James B. Lockhart III presented his report, “The Present Condition and Future Status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac”. Highlights of the report include, the Treasury Department’s commitment to fund up to $200 billion in capital for each
Enterprise is expected be sufficient; the Enterprises own or guarantee 56% of the single family mortgages in this country, or $5.4 trillion of the total $11.9 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt; their combined share of mortgages originated in the first quarter of 2009 was 73 percent; private-label mortgage-backed securities (PLS) are a major driver of Enterprise losses; both Enterprises are heavily involved in planning and implementing the Making Home Affordable and the Home Affordable Refinance programs. The report notes:

As of March 31, 2009, seriously delinquent loans accounted for 2.3 percent of single-
family mortgages owned or guaranteed for Freddie Mac and 3.2 percent for Fannie Mae.
While those are historically high levels, they compare favorably to industry averages of
4.7 percent for all prime loans, 7.2 percent for all single-family mortgages, 24.9 percent
for all subprime mortgages, and 36.5 percent for subprime adjustable rate mortgages

The report provides background on the origins of PLS and the risk they present. PLS loans represent only 15 percent of mortgages but 50 percent of serious delinquencies. In contrast at year-end 2008, the loans the Enterprises held or guaranteed represented 56 percent of the U.S. single family mortgages outstanding, but only 20 percent of serious delinquencies. The credit quality of investments in PLS has proven to be much worse than the initial triple-A credit ratings of those securities would have suggested. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding the true economic value of PLS will continue to raise safety and soundness concerns.

The report notes the for-profit structure of the GSEs worked counter to prudent risk management as competition reduced both marketshare and profits, thus eroding the GSEs credit requirements. To maintain profitability, each Enterprise increased purchases of PLS backed by alternative mortgages and of high-risk whole loans. And while many had criticized the OFHEO and sought to replace it:

Purchases of PLS ultimately proved disastrous for the Enterprises. Credit and market-
value losses would have been even larger had the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight (OFHEO), one of FHFA’s predecessor agencies, not increased the Enterprises’
capital requirement by 30 percent and capped their asset portfolios because of accounting
and control problems.

The George W. Bush administration was prevented from taking action due to Senate Bill 190 of the 109 Congress never being allowed a full Senate vote, even though it was passed out of committee on a 13-9 vote along party lines (13 Republicans voted "Yes" and 9 Democrats voted "No"), doing so would have prevented Congress' home ownership goals being realized.

On June 16, 2010, it was announced that the two GSEs would have their shares delisted from the NYSE.

Plans to rent houses

On August 10, 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency asked investors for ideas on renting homes owned by Fannie Mac, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

External links

Official web sites

Background and reaction
(Graphic of change in market capitalization of major firms eleven months)

Who's Holding the Debt. July 15, 2008. New York Times. (Graphic depicting the holders of GSE debt; note that there are twelve Federal Home Loan Banks, GSEs included in this graphic..) (Graphic and interactive timeline.)

(Interactive timeline of Treasury Secretary Paulson's changing policy actions in relation to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – requires Flash

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Background and financial market crisis

Previous attempts for GSE reform

Federal Housing Finance Agency and Treasury authority

Prior GSE support measures

Capital infusion by the Treasury

FHFA initial actions as conservator

Government support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

National debt accounting

Bank reserves

Credit default swaps

September 2008 reactions to the seizure

Effects on the subprime mortgage crisis

Financial condition of Fannie and Freddie prior to takeover

Ongoing status of Fannie and Freddie conservatorship

Plans to rent houses

See also

External links