New Regulations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Per new regulations finalized last week, the GSEs will be required to file suspicious activity reports (SARs) directly with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) rather than through their own regulator.

Developed in coordination with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), FinCEN’s final rule is intended to provide law enforcement and regulators with a more complete picture of mortgage fraud than that offered by less detailed reports currently provided to FHFA.

Though reports are to be filed with FinCEN, the agency notes FHFA will have responsibility for examining the GSEs for compliance.

In addition to filing SARs with FinCEN, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks will also be required to develop programs to aid in preventing money laundering.

According to FinCEN, the newly announced final rule adopts (“without significant change”) all of the provisions contained in the agencies November 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The rule goes into effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.