Housing finance reform

For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped working-class Americans get mortgages. That essential and powerful role in the national economy is fading.

The House Financial Services Committee passed 13 bills (and scrapped a vote on one) Wednesday, including one that would stop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from being released by the government and another hailed as helping the underbanked in rural areas.

For the second week in a row, the CFPB's leadership shakeout dominated readers' attention, while a regional banker discussed efforts to fight hacking and the impact of the tax cuts, and bitcoin's price soared.

Until recently, there was a consensus among policymakers that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed to be eliminated. That just changed. Here's why.

House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling shifted tactics on housing finance reform Wednesday, acknowledging that a bill he’s pushed for years to virtually eliminate the government’s role in the mortgage market lacks the support to become law.

Testing of the common securitization platform is taking longer than expected, but the Federal Housing Finance Agency said it won't delay the 2019 launch of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's new single "uniform mortgage-backed security."

The financial services industry has cheered a proposed reduction in the corporate tax rate, but a lower rate could force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write down assets, increasing the odds that the companies will need Treasury support.

President Trump has tapped Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as interim head of the CFPB. He has taken tough stances on the CFPB, its payday lending rule, housing finance reform and other issues pending before the agency.

The White House and congressional GOP leaders are eyeing a tight window between tax reform passage and the 2018 midterms to pass housing finance reform. And with key policymakers readying their exit, the effort could be the most concerted push yet.

Democrats' victories in Virginia and New Jersey fueled speculation that they may be able retake the House during midterm elections next year. That could have a big impact on regulatory relief, housing finance reform and other priorities for banks and credit unions.