Private Funds

As part of an effort to reorganize federal agencies in a way to make them more efficient and accountable, President Donald Trump’s administration is proposing to end the conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and allow other privately owned entities to enter the secondary market to increase competition.

The proposal has elicited responses from trade associations representing mortgage bankers and credit unions, noting their hopes for what can be done to improve on the current guarantor structure.

Learn more details about how the plan would impact the housing finance system and what the industry is saying about it.

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Numerous financial trade organizations are hailing the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) recent proposal for reforming the housing finance system as further evidence of what they long have contended: the secondary mortgage market should incorporate private capital.

The FHFA recently published a report entitled, “Federal Housing Finance Agency Perspectives on Housing Finance Reform,” proposing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reincorporated as private entities. FHFA Director Mel Watt also wrote to the Senate Banking Committee, detailing his views on the matter. 

Find out which recommendations the agency outlined closely align with proposals published by the financial industry. 

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Having long contended that conservatorship for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is unsustainable, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt recently testified to the Senate Banking Committee about actions he feels need to take place to work toward reforming the housing finance market. Read on to find out what he and members of the committee had to say about the issues facing the agency and Congress regarding the matter.  Read on »

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations released its examination priorities for 2015, focusing on certain practices and products that the office perceives to present potentially heightened risks to investors and capital markets.  Read on »

The mortgage industry breathed a collective sigh of relief when regulators unveiled a rule reproposal that would align the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) definition — a key element of Dodd-Frank’s risk retention framework — with the qualified mortgage (QM) provisions set forth under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability-to-repay rule. However, industry participants hoping for workable final rules should familiarize themselves with the proposal and submit comments to regulators, said Kristie Kully, of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of K&L Gates.

Public comments on the new proposal are due by Oct. 30.

Six regulatory agencies are working to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that require securitizers to retain at least 5 percent of the credit risk of the assets collateralizing asset-backed securities. The act also requires regulators to establish criteria for QRMs — certain mortgages that will be exempt from the risk-retention requirements.

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The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved four bills that proponents claim will reduce the regulatory burden on job creators. Three of the bills would modify the Dodd-Frank Act. One such bill would repeal a provision requiring public companies to submit a disclosure comparing employees’ compensation to the chief executive officer’s compensation. Read on »

The Securities Exchange Commission published its examination priorities for 2013, which cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including broker-dealers, clearing agencies, exchanges and self-regulatory organizations, investment companies, hedge funds and private equity funds and transfer agents. Read on to learn about the SEC’s Dodd-Frank Act-related examination plans. Read on »

The Securities and Exchange Commission pursued a “robust, investor-focused” rulemaking agenda and maintained an aggressive enforcement posture in FY 2012, according to the agency’s recently released annual report. Read on to learn about the SEC’s 2013 rulemaking goals and some of the challenges the regulator faces. Read on »

The Securities and Exchange Commission said hundreds of advisers to hedge funds and other private funds have registered with the agency in response to Dodd-Frank’s registration provisions. Read on to learn about the SEC’s effort to reach advisers who may be required to move to state oversight but have not yet done so. Read on »

Hailed by some, vilified by others, the Dodd-Frank Act turns two on July 21. In a three-part series, Dodd Frank Update takes an in-depth look at the act, where we’ve been and where we’re going. Read on to learn about regulators’ early efforts to implement key provisions of the act, including the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read on »