Posts Tagged ‘Fannie Mae’
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 16th, 2010 4:03 PM |
In June 2009, I highlighted the expectation of massive losses within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in writing Uncle Sam’s Dirty Little Secret. Fourteen months and hundreds of billions of dollars in losses later, America awaits to see how our ‘wizards in Washington’ will look to deal with these housing ‘wards of the state.’ Tomorrow, the Obama administration hosts the “Conference on the Future of Housing Finance.”
In anticipation of this conference, this past April the Obama administration had asked for input as to how our housing finance system might work. I wrote then (and would like to resubmit now), Sense on Cents Responds to Obama Administration Request for Input:
President Obama wants input on the reform of the housing finance system. Given my career, I consider myself eminently qualified to give it to him. Despite this request, though, I still think he should focus on job creation (which he highlighted during his State of the Union address).
I welcome giving President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and the rest of the the White House economic team a very healthy dose of Sense on Cents. (My response is a little lengthy, but it is not everyday the President gives us this opportunity. Out of respect, I owe him my best effort.) I will let you know if they respond with anything more than a form letter, or if they do not respond at all. From the U.S. Treasury today:
Obama Administration Seeks Public Input on
Reform of the Housing Finance System (more…)
Tags: conference on future of housing finance, fannie and freddie summit, fannie freddie summit preview, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, future of housing, Geithner, GIM, Greenwich Investment Management, home finance, Housing Crisis, Larry Doyle, Obama Administration, obama conference on housing, public input on reform of housing finance system, Sense on Cents, what to do with fannie and freddie
Posted in General | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 11th, 2010 7:17 AM |
Have executives at Fannie Mae worked to benefit their own financial interests versus promoting the well being of American taxpayers and homeowners looking to permanently modify their mortgages? Is Fannie Mae merely a perpetual train wreck or has something even more nefarious gone on inside the halls of our national stepchild?
In recently reviewing The Center for Public Integrity, I was not shocked — but certainly dismayed — to read Whistleblower: Fannie Mae Bungled HAMP Anti-Foreclosure Program,
Fannie Mae executives bungled their stewardship of the federal government’s massive foreclosure-prevention campaign, creating a bureaucratic muddle characterized by “mismanagement and gross waste of public funds,” according to a whistleblower lawsuit by a former Fannie Mae executive and consultant. (more…)
Tags: caroline herron lawsuit, Center For Public Integrity, Fannie Mae, FNMA, Franklin Raines, government waste, HAMP, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage modification, wasting taxpayer money, wealth redistribution, Whistleblower: fannie Mae Bungled HAMP Anti-Foreclosure Program, who is caroline herron
Posted in Fannie Mae, General, Mortgage Crisis, Mortgages | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 4th, 2010 1:25 PM |
Former Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines
Whatever happened to the virtues of taking responsibility and ownership for issues? Why do I hold so many senior executives in our financial industry in disdain? For the very simple reason that I have seen very few of these execs stand up and be counted. All too many of them point the finger elsewhere, use the convenient excuse of ‘the perfect storm,’ or develop a convenient case of amnesia.
Who is a fine examplar of the last category? Former Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae Franklin Raines who wrote into The Wall Street Journal yesterday on the topic of the demise of our two step-children, Fannie and Freddie. Raines promotes that the downfall of these organizations and the enormous burden they now put on American taxpayers were simply the result of the excessive credit risks taken by Freddie and Fannie from 2005-2007. Raines writes, Poor Credit Judgments Sank Fannie and Freddie:
The facts about the financial collapse of Fannie and Freddie are pretty clear and a matter of public record. (more…)
Tags: Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines, Franklin Raines deflects blame, Franklin Raines fannie mae, Franklin Raines letter, Franklin raines letter to WSJ, GIM, Greenwich Investment Management, Larry Doyle, LD, Raines letter WSJ August 3 2010, Sense on Cents
Posted in General | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 23rd, 2010 12:57 PM |
Information is everything. Those who control the information have immense power. The allegiances of those in control of the info obviously have an enormous impact on how the information is processed and dispensed. The potential for conflicts of interest are significant. Standard business fare, correct? Have these conflicts played out on Wall Street? All too often. How so?
I have repeatedly highlighted the conflicts within our financial regulatory structure. We also know that the credit rating agencies have been enormously conflicted. Anywhere else? Let’s enter the world of mortgage servicing, ….. (more…)
Tags: Bank of America, Bill Frey, conflicts, conflicts of interest on Wall Street, Fannie Mae, Fannie Subpoena to Show 30B in Bad Mortgages Josh Rosner, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA, financial regulations, financial regulatory structures, Freddie Mac, JP Morgan, mortgage servicing, mortgage servicing rights, MSRs, servicers, Wall Street conflicts, Wells Fargo, what do mortgage servicers do
Posted in General, Mortgage Crisis, Mortgages | 6 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 12th, 2010 3:21 PM |
Are there some dark legal clouds beginning to hover over the Wall Street landscape? How so? The threats of impending lawsuits are never a forecast any individual, entity, or industry care to entertain. Like it or not, Wall Street is beginning to get some ground cover in the forms of pending legal actions.
While a large mortgage investor, Cambridge Place Investment Management, recently filed a complaint against virtually every firm on Wall Street in the Massachusetts courts, today we see none other than our ‘wards of the state’ Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preparing the initial steps to bring suit against Wall Street. Could it be possible that Fannie and Freddie would sue Wall Street? Is a potential lawsuit political cover for Uncle Sam? Who knows? (more…)
Tags: CAmbridge Place Investment Management, Edward DeMarco, Fannie and Freddie subpoenas, Fannie Mae, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA, Freddie Mac, U.S. Seeks to recoup fannie Freddie Losses, Wall Street lawsuits, will fannie and Freddie sue Wall Street
Posted in General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 10th, 2010 11:21 AM |
As day follows night, financial fraud follows economic distress. God forbid people try to make an honest living as opposed to seizing opportunities to make a dishonest buck. This financial artifice is on display in the short sales of homes throughout our country.
Bloomberg highlights this fraudulent activity in reporting, Banks Face Short-Sale Fraud as Home ‘Flopping’ Schemes Spread:
Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal. (more…)
Tags: Anna McElaney, California Department of Real Estate, Fannie Mae, fraud in house flopping, Freddie Mac, HAMP, house flopping, how to flop a house, mortgage modifications, Neil Barofsky, payoffs and kickbacks, Sergio Natera, short sales and home flopping, what is house flopping
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 3rd, 2010 11:52 AM |
I first introduced readers of Sense on Cents to issues embedded within the Federal Home Loan Bank system in the spring of 2009. In an article entitled FHLBs: Red Sea, Dead Sea or Both?, I highlighted:
Charles Bowsher, the former chair of FHLB’s Office of Finance sent a warning shot loud and clear about the “hidden and embedded” losses in this system when he resigned his position as chair of the FHLB Office of Finance in late March (2009). As Bloomberg reported on April 2nd:
Bowsher, who was comptroller general of the U.S. from 1981 to 1996, had a simple reason for resigning last week as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank System’s Office of Finance. He didn’t want to put his name on the banks’ combined financial statements, because he was uncomfortable vouching for them.
Well, the shot Bowsher sent a year ago reverberated today in the form an earthquake as reported by the American Banker, Questioning Marks on Mortgage Bonds at San Francisco FHLB:>>>> (more…)
Tags: American Banker Questioning Marks on Mortgage Bonds at San Francisco FHLB, Amy Stewart, Charles Bowsher, embedded losses in RMBS, Espen Robak, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Banks, FHLB office of finance, FHLB San Francisco, Freddie Mac, Karen Shaw Petrou Federal Finance Analytics, losses in banking, losses in RMBS, Pluris Valuation Advisors, Price Waterhouse Coopers C, PWC
Posted in Federal Home Loan Banks, General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 2nd, 2010 1:20 PM |
Has America lost the courage to aggressively address those who commit fraud? Is the American public even aware of the massive fraud perpetrated by those in our financial system which led to our current economic crisis? Are those in Washington willing to take a stand, risk their own skins, call out those engaged in fraud, even if some of the fraudsters occupy neighboring seats at nearby regulatory bodies?
Unless we find people in our government who are willing to make these calls, repeat them publicly in a long, loud fashion, and compel prosecutors to issue indictments, then I fear our union will pay a price and incur a cost that may be immeasurable.
Why so strong? Why so strident? (more…)
Tags: addressing fraud, AIG, Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, bill thomas, Brooksley Born, caveat emptor, CDS, Charles Keating, Conspiracy of Fools, control frauds, Dick Cheney, economic theory, efficient market hypothesis r, Enron scandal, Fannie Mae, FCIC, Financial crisis inquiry commission, financial frauds, fraud in our economy, frauds, Freddie Mac, George Akerlof, George W. Bush, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, heather murren, how to address fraud, IBG YBG, indict fraudsters, investigating fraud, James Stewart's Den of Thieves, Joe Biden, John K. Galbraith, John Paulson, Kurt Eichenwald, Levy Economics Institute, liar loans, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in Government Business Relations, market discipline, Mary Schapiro, Nelson's Eye, neutron loans, ninja loans, Paul Romer, Peter Fisher, phil angelides, rational expectations, Representative Doggett, Robert Johnson, Savings and loan fraud, SEC, speculation, systemic fraud, Thomas Ferguson, Tim Geithner, University of Texas, Wall Street, Washington, William K. Black
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 9th, 2010 4:19 PM |
Former CEO of Fannie Mae Daniel Mudd took the stand today to get grilled by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Ooooohhh, ahhhhh….what did we learn from Mr. Mudd? Very little. Although Mr. Mudd fed at the Fannie trough for a good number of years and was paid tens of millions of dollars during his tenure, the fact is he only took over the reins in what amounted to the bottom of the eighth inning.
If the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission truly wanted to serve America’s interests, they would shine the bright lights on three former Fannie execs who cultivated a culture which, in my opinion and others, allowed for Fannie Mae to cook their books while effectively paying off their friends up on the Hill. Who are these execs? (more…)
Tags: daniel mudd april 9 2010, daniel mudd fannie mae ceo, daniel mudd fcic april 9 2010 m, daniel mudd tenure at fannie mae, Daniel Mudd testimony april 9 2010, Fannie Mae, fannie mae lobbying dollars, fannie mae overreported revenues under franklin raines, FCIC April 9 2010, financial crisis inquiry commission april 9 2010, Franklin Raines Barack Obama, Franklin Raines fannie mae, fraud at fannie mae, Freddie Mac under reported revenues re, James Johnson fannie mae, James Johnson Obama VP search committee, Tim Howard fannie mae, what happened to franklin raines, where is frankliin raines, where is tim howard
Posted in FCIC, Fannie Mae, General | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 8th, 2010 11:51 AM |
On Christmas Eve 2009, the Obama administration provided a blank check to the wards of the state known as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. (“Fannie and Freddie’s Huge Christmas Bonus”)
What other quasi-government institutions have a very similar business profile as Freddie and Fannie? The Federal Home Loan Bank system, acronym FHLBs, commonly referred to within the financial industry as FLUBs. I will reserve comment on that moniker. Ten months ago, I questioned whether the dynamics at work within the FHLB system would be the equivalent of what has transpired at Freddie and Fannie. I wrote “Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Deja Vu?” and highlighted:
Can our economy absorb another financial hit of the magnitude of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? (more…)
Tags: Bloomberg Jonathan Weil, Fannie Mae, FASB, FASB relaxation of mark to market, Federal Home Loan Banks, FHLB Atlanta, FHLB Boston, FHLB Chicago, FHLB Dallas, FHLB Des Moines, FHLB New York, FHLB San Francisco, FHLB Seattle, FHLB system, FHLB Topeka, FHLBs, financial accounting, FLUBs, Freddie Mac, Housing Crisis, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage problems, Putting Perfume on a Pig, shell game, Subsidyscope
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
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