Financial writer Robert Stowe England details the major lessons bankers should learn from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, including the paramount need for holistic risk management.
Banking Strategies
April 19, 2011
The ball is now in Congress’ court to create a new housing finance system. The Treasury Department released its white paper, but that is only the first baby step into the future.
Mortgage Banking
April 2011
A commission was set up in 2009 to figure out who blew up the global economy. It ended up with three different conclusions -- and no real answers.
Mortgage Banking
March 2011
Douglas Holtz-Eakin was one of three members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission who joined together to author a dissenting view from the majority report. He talked to Mortgage Banking about the work of the commission and some of its findings.
Mortgage Banking
March 2011
As banks prepare for the demise of Regulation Q, they ponder the choice: pay up in interest costs to gain commercial accounts or play wait-and-see to preserve profits?
Banking Strategies
December 14, 2010
The Department of Labor filed lawsuits against 24 employers and individual-plan fiduciaries in a single day for diverting employee contributions that were intended for retirement and healthcare plans. A recent study showed that about seven in 10 employers fail to forward such contributions in a timely manner, as required by law.
Human Resource Executive Magazine
November 19, 2010
read more: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533325938
Countrywide has survived as the last major independent mortgage banker against competitors with deeper pockets and higher leveraging. The trick has been constantly improving productivity and being willing to reinvent itself when the competitive environment changed. Now a new bank and a huge cadre of newly hired commissioned salespeople are part of the winning strategy.
Mortgage Banking
January 2002
The mortgage insurance industry has so far survived the greatest housing downturn since the Great Depression. Now, it’s ready to expand its shrunken market share in a bid to ensure its future.
Mortgage Banking
January 2011
Clouds Over the Recovery
Even as prospects for the economy improve slowly, the outlook for housing sales and home prices remains weak. A consensus is emerging, however, that the recovery will resume in the second half of 2011.
Mortgage Banking
December 2010
Q&A with Neil Barofsky
The special inspector general for TARP discusses how and why the program has failed to meet some of its stated goals.
Mortgage Banking
November 2010
A significant revival of the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market may be at least two years away. While there are many barriers and detours along the way, there may also be an occasional fast lane that could lead to new RMBS issues.
Mortgage Banking
October 2010
A key member of the Senate banking committee offers an inside perspective on the shaping of the new Dodd-Frank law.
Mortgage Banking
September 2010
With the price of the bailout rising and momentum for reform in Washington slowing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain vital to the functioning of the mortgage and housing markets. A framework for a new system is beginning to take shape, at the same time that analysts are looking to fully and adequately address flaws in the current system.
Mortgage Banking
May 2010
In an exclusive interview, Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director DeMarco talks about the ongoing policy discussions to restructure the nation’s housing finance system. He also cites some of the activities that led to billions of dollars of losses at Fannie and Freddie.
Mortgage Banking
May 2010
Will home sales fall off a cliff once the latest version of the homebuyer tax credit expires? Experts vary on the precise impact of the credit, and on what will happen when it ends. But most agree the credit created a big wave of sales pulled forward in time to when the housing market really needed a boost.
Mortgage Banking
March 2010
Mortgage bankers report they continue to struggle to find sufficient warehouse lines even as some observers say the worst of the credit drought seems to be over and supply may be approaching demand. Nevertheless, warehouse capacity is down substantially from its peak.
Mortgage Banking
February 2010
The Federal Housing Administration is making tough choices to help shore up the government program from weaker loans made in years past. A mortgage industry veteran is at the helm shaping the policy changes.
Mortgage Banking
January 2010
It's a tough time for community banks to raise capital -- and the regulators aren't making it any easier.
Banking Strategies
January 1, 2010
Bank of America Home Loans has forced its new identity with a focus on customer satisfaction and quality loan origination. The 2008 acquisition of Countrywide has given the bank the production platform and technology prowess of a former industry leader. Add to the, B of A's internal discipline and a focus on profitable origiantion, and you have the makings of a lending powerhouse.
Mortgage Banking
October 2009
Human Resource Executive
July 25, 2009
In a joint hearing before the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission, regulators questioned the make-up of target-date funds and the disclosures related to them. Such funds have been increasingly popular with plan sponsors -- as well as employees -- but even some with the same target date have widely divergent equity allocations.
Human Resource
Online July 25, 2008
Most observers were pleased with the proposed fee-disclosure regulation issued by the Department of Labor, which could take effect for the 2009 plan year. It requires both quarterly and annual disclosure, as well as information on investment performance. Critics say the proposal does not go far enough.
Behind the Bill
Human Resource Executive
January 2007
An in-depth look at the specific impacts of the new Pension Protection Act of 2006 will have on employers.
Mortgage Banking
May 2007
First came the spike in delinquencies and defaults. Then came the fallout for subprime lenders. A market correction in the mortgage industry is squeezing out the excesses in pricing and underwriting. Most predict the industry will emerge stronger once the transition is complete.
Mortgage Banking
April 2009
Mortgage finance experts, regulators, lawmakers and industry groups are wrestling with the challenge of remaking the secondary mortgage market into a sustainable model for the long term.
Mortgage Banking
March 2009
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, along with the 11 other regional home loan banks, has been providing needed liquidity to the market during the credit crisis. But even these conservative institutions are facing large potential writedowns on privatelabel MBS.
Mortgage Banking
November 2008
Business strategies during the rapid expansion of mortgage credit from 2002 to 2007 worked to boost the emerging housing credit bubble fostered by low interest rates and investor demand. This is the second of a two-part series. The first part, The Origins of the House Finance Bubble, was published in the September issue.
Mortgage Banking
January 2009
Federal regulators have been aggressive, persistent and determined to contain the financial crisis that erupted into a global liquidity freeze in September. A key goal is to bring about recovery in the housing sector to stop the bleeding at financial institutions and mitigate the economic fallout.
Mortgage Banking
November 2008
Industry veteran Joseph Murin has taken the helm of Ginnie Mae at a very critical time for the mortgage business.
Mortgage Banking
December 2008
An exclusive interview with the head of the new oversight agency for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
Mortgage Banking
October 2008
A brand-new Hud secretary has stepped into the job when much remains to be done to shore up the housing market, implement a massive new housing law and oversee a revived FHA program.
Mortgage Banking
October 2008
In a startling weekend turn of events, the federal government took the two giant government-sponsored enterprises into conservatorship. The bold move seems to be a sign of the times.
Mortgage Banking
June 2008
FHA's top official discusses the need for Congress to enact FHA modernization legislation, the surge in FHASecure refinancings, higher loan limits and the ins and outs of the RESPA proposed rule.
By Robert Stowe England
Mortgage Banking
April 2008
This high-ranking Treasury official talks about the financial system reform proposal just released by Treasury, as well as GSE reform and HOPE NOW results.
Mortgage Banking
April 2008
Temporarily higher loan limits for Fannie, Freddie and FHA, plus a lifting of portfolio caps and a reduction in the surplus capital requirement, pave the way for the GSE’s and FHA to gain market share and expand overall lending. At the same time, the Fed has taken extraordinary steps to improve liquidity. Still, a full recovery of the mortgage market depends on a revival of the non-agency market. As of early spring, that was nowhere in sight.
Mortgage Banking
September 2008
Monday-morning quarterbacks are finding plenty to blame for the creation of a housing credit bubble that has dramatically burst. While there's a growing laundry list of causes, there appears to be emerging consensus on some primary drivers, such as monetary policy and the unchecked expansion of mortgage credit by non-banks. This two-part series examines the details.
Mortgage Banking
February 2008
A respected policy analyst and student of the American mortgage market, Alex Pollock examines some of the root causes and possible solutions to the current mortgage market troubles.
Mortgage Banking
January 2008
Estimates keep rising for total losses expected from higher defaults and markdowns on mortgage assets and related derivatives held by financial institutions worldwide. The bottom line isn't pretty, and it's not even over yet.
Mortgage Banking
December 2007
Mortgage lenders have moved quickly to adjust their product offerings and business strategies in the wake of the liquidity crisis. The shutdown of major funding sources, combined with mounting defaults for certain products, has prompted quick adjustments in business models. There's at least one silver lining: The exit of many competitors is bringing new pricing strength for surviving lenders.
Mortgage Banking
December 2007
The House Financial Services Committee has been very active this session on many issues of importance to the mortgage industry. Committee Chairman Barney Frank recently introduced his own anti-predatory-lending bill, and we sat down to talk to him about it.
Mortgage Banking
March 2008
Last year the air rushed out of California's housing bubble. Housing sales and new-home construction have nose-dived. Home prices have fallen. The real estate and housing finance industries are scouting the horizon for a recovery in sales. Meanwhile, a turnaround in home prices and construction could take years.
Mortgage Banking
October 2007
A leading mortgage insurance executive talks about the factors behind the current mortgage market troubles, some necessary cures and a timetable for recovery.
Read more: Q&A with William V. Nutt, President and CEO of AIG United Guaranty
Mortgage Banking
November 2007
Mortgage Banking recently interviewed James B. Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, to talk about current market conditions and the role of Fannie and Freddie in restoring liquidity.
Mortgage Banking
November 2007
The mortgage meltdown is deepening, and prolonging the housing recession. A weak housing sector has ripple effects for the rest of the U.S. economy. Financial markets remain vulnerable to renewed turmoil from hidden exposures to subprime mortgages and related derivatives.
Mortgage Banking
August 2009
The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shares her views on navigating the banking system through the current financial market crisis.
Mortgage Banking
April 2003
A new report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) explores the attendant risks posed by the growing retained loan portfolios of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Fannie and Freddie hedge those risks expansively, but even the scope of the hedging efforts raises its own questions.
Mortgage Banking
May 2009
The $1 trillion Geithner public-private partnership investment plan offers a broad framework for using private-sector capital to enable price discovery and government-backed leverage to boost returns. Policy-makers hope the effort will move troubled mortgage assets off the balance sheets of banks.
Mortgage Banking
April 2005
It has been said that demography is destiny. That is to say, significant changes in birth rates, longevity, immigration and other changes in the size and age structure of the population of a nation will reshape its society and determine its future. Nowadays some observers are saying demography is also destiny for the housing sector of the economy.
Mortgage Banking
October 2006
Innovative mortgage products, enthusiastic investor support and consumer demand for new affordable loans have all come together to give extraordinary new power to the private mortgage-backed securities market. This has left the private sector setting the rules once largely dictated by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA.
Mortgage Banking
October 2007
The subprime meltdown spilled over into other financial markets over the summer. Investors fled the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities market, shutting it down in early August. Facing margin calls, falling asset values, no buyers for non-agency bonds and no buyers for mortgages originated for the private-label market, mortgage companies large and small scrambled to survive.
