WASHINGTON - (10/04/04) -- A new report issued Friday by amajor Washington think tank calls for the full privatization ofsecondary mortgage market giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Thereport, by the Cato Institute, concludes that the U.S. housingmarket is so deep that the government backing of the two housingentities is no longer necessary and that taxpayers may be on thehook for billions of dollars in the event of a major financialcrisis affecting one or both of the companies. The Libertarianthink tank released its report just as Congress is stepping up itsinvestigation into the growing accounting scandal at Fannie Mae andits sister secondary market giant, Freddie Mac, prompting some onCapital Hill to revisit the privatization issue. Both governmentsponsored enterprises are stockholder owned, but are implicitlysupported by the federal government through their governmentcharters. There is recent precedent for privatization of agovernment sponsored enterprise, with Sallie Mae, the student loangiant, now nearing completion of a privatization. The Fannie Maereport was written by New York University economist Lawrence White,author of a 2002 study urging the separation of the National CUShare Insurance Fund from NCUA.
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Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., told American Banker that he sees a concrete path to chair the House Financial Services Committee that relies on his long experience in committee leadership and long political career.
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Banking Circle US is the first company to use Connecticut's uninsured bank charter for wholesale and merchant activities. This kind of charter makes sense for payments firms, but questions persist about overall viability.
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The plan that the Federal Housing Finance Agency floated calls for Freddie Mac to actively invest in some new closed-end seconds as cash-out refinancing subsides.
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Ant Group's Alipay is linking to Pakistan's NayaPay as part of a push to support tourism to China, Revolut has obtained a license from Mexico's National Banking and Securities Commission, and more.
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Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.
April 16 -
The Federal Reserve chair's comments coincide with the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington. They also come as groups like the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision are being scrutinized.
April 16