MM scoop: White House moving on housing — Victoria Guida and I hear that the White House as soon as today will release a presidential memo directing the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to draft reports on reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Our housing pro, Katy O’Donnell, reports that there won’t be much meat to it — expect a longer version of the section on GSEs in the summer 2018 OMB government reform plan
"Forget about, for now, all this chatter regarding a possible delay in the Trump administration’s plan to reform (and release?) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the shackles of conservatorship. We’re told by an attorney who works for one GSE (and requested anonymity) that any such plan cannot go forward without the Federal Housing Finance Agency first releasing its new regulation on capital requirements. Sources who claim to have talked to the Trump administration about the capital rule said it will not be out until December…
The FHFA told IMFnews on Wednesday the agency is not discussing any timetables at this point. For more on the story, see this Friday’s edition of Inside MBS & ABS. The story will also touch on the issue of “implicit” versus “explicit” MBS guarantees for Fannie and Freddie Mac…"
From Paul Muolo/IMF today:capital rule... will not be out until December…
Soooo...the government will insure the insured product? Am I misunderstanding this? Are the gses necessary? Is this the FMIC envisioned by Barry and the Bandits?