Both GSEs are required to reduce the volume of their mortgage portfolios, and both are required to have a zero capital buffer by January 1, 2018. To some, that is an extremely bad combination for taxpayers while the FHFA's conservatorship of the GSEs continues.
Read More »Lawmakers Revisit Concern Over Potential Repeat of GSE Bailout
Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require another taxpayer-funded bailout as a result of their zero capital requirement?
Read More »Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Q3 Earnings Reports Fuel Bailout Speculation
The GSEs have been under FHFA conservatorship since September 2008, at which time they needed a combined bailout of $187.5 billion from taxpayers in order to stay afloat and "preserve and conserve their assets and property and restore them to a sound financial condition so they can continue to fulfill their statutory mission of promoting liquidity and efficiency in the nation's housing finance markets," according to FHFA's website.
Read More »Chase CEO: ‘Big, Dumb Banks’ Should Be Allowed to Fail
Should banks actually be allowed to fail? Well, the “big, dumb” ones should, according to JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, who on Wednesday blasted the institutionalized belief that mega-dollar bailouts for badly run banks is good for the economy.
Read More »Congress Urged to Pass Bill to Protect Taxpayers from Another Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bailout
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and 14 other organizations have written an open letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate urging them to pass legislation that would provide a cushion to prevent another taxpayer bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Read More »Some Lawmakers Believe ‘Too Big to Fail’ Is Still Alive Seven Years After the Crisis
In July 2015, the House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the criteria for designating a company as a SIFI, criticizing the $50 billion asset threshold required by Dodd-Frank.
Read More »Bipartisan Bill Introduced In Congress Aimed At Preventing Fed Bailouts
Garrett and Mike Capuano (D-Massachusetts) introduced H.R. 2625, also known as the Bailout Prevention Act (BPA) of 2015 in response to the Fed's perceived failure to make any meaningful changes with regards to implementing certain provisions of Dodd-Frank that would limit the Fed's broad powers.
Read More »Will Freddie Mac Require Another Draw from Treasury?
A hugely profitable year in 2013 for both Fannie Mae ($84 billion) and Freddie Mac ($49 billion) shifted widespread speculation from winding down the two GSEs to instead ending FHFA's conservatorship of the two Enterprises, which began in September 2008 after the two received a combined $188 billion from Treasury in bailout funds.
Read More »Republican Lawmakers Seek to Halt Government Bank Rescues
Just as they promised when they gained a majority in both the House and Senate in the November elections, Republicans are in talks to chip away at the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, according to a report from Reuters.
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