Housing finance reform

The Main Street GSE Reform Coalition offered three principles: creating a capital buffer for Fannie and Freddie, continuing with reforms by their regulator and ending the conservatorship that began in 2008.

The Senate is set to begin teeing up housing finance reform discussions at a Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, but many are skeptical that Congress will be able to succeed where it has failed in the past.

A key question for the future of housing finance is whether large and small lenders will both be able to compete, or will a new system favor Wall Street giants?

Housing finance reform discussions are heating up and there's a growing sense that legislation can be enacted sooner rather than later. Here's why.

Readers chime in on the GSE conservatorships, bitcoin’s future, regulatory relief for regional banks, a recent Supreme Court ruling on debt collection, and more.

As long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exist, they must have adequate capital so taxpayers will never again be compelled to help them meet their financial obligations.

The ICBA backs a plan to recapitalize Fannie and Freddie through retained earnings and public offerings, but other groups see it as a self-interested proposal to help GSE stockholders.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was pressed for his views on housing finance reform, what a “modernized” version of the Glass-Steagall Act would look like and a two-tiered regulatory system.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be able to rebuild a capital buffer to avoid any potential crisis in the mortgage market, according to a coalition of affordable housing advocates, homebuilders and small mortgage lender groups.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to face tough questions on the OCC, Glass-Steagall and housing finance reform when he testifies on Thursday.