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The Federal Home Loan Bank system : the \"other\" housing GSE

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  • Mark J. Flannery
  • W. Scott Frame

Abstract

Founded in 1932, the twelve Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) have historically provided long-term funding to specialized mortgage lenders. But legislative changes in the wake of the 1980s? thrift crises spurred the FHLBs to expand in both size and scope. For example, FHLB balance sheets now also include a substantial investment in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, and the attendant interest rate risk has created financial and accounting difficulties at some of the FHLBs. ; Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the FHLB System is a government-sponsored enterprise that funds itself largely with federal agency debt obligations that investors perceive to be implicitly guaranteed by the U.S. government. This article identifies some differences in risk-taking incentives between the cooperatively owned FHLB System and investor-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ; Cooperative ownership itself does not reduce FHLB risk-taking incentives because, unlike many mutuals, the FHLB System does not bundle its equity and debt claims. Also, the joint-and-several liability provision in the FHLBs? consolidated debt obligations and a lack of equity market discipline may heighten FHLB risk-taking incentives. However, the FHLBs cannot avail themselves of equity-based managerial compensation, which create high-powered risk-taking incentives in investor-owned firms. Thus, it is unclear whether the FHLBs? risk-taking incentives are necessarily weaker than Fannie Mae?s and Freddie Mac?s.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark J. Flannery & W. Scott Frame, 2006. "The Federal Home Loan Bank system : the \"other\" housing GSE," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 91(Q 3), pages 33-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedaer:y:2006:i:q3:p:33-54:n:v.91no.3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Atanasov, Vladimir & Merrick, John, 2011. "Financial asset demand is elastic: Evidence from new issues of Federal Home Loan Bank debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 3225-3239.
    2. W. Scott Frame & Diana Hancock & Wayne Passmore, 2012. "Federal Home Loan Bank Advances and Commercial Bank Portfolio Composition," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 661-684, June.
    3. Adam Ashcraft & Morten L. Bech & W. Scott Frame, 2010. "The Federal Home Loan Bank System: The Lender of Next-to-Last Resort?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(4), pages 551-583, June.
    4. Toni Dechario & Patricia C. Mosser & Joseph Tracy & James Vickery & Joshua Wright, 2010. "A private lender cooperative model for residential mortgage finance," Staff Reports 466, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    5. W. Scott Frame & Lawrence J. White, 2010. "The Industrial Organization of the U.S. Single-Family Residential Mortgage Industry," Working Papers 10-11, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    6. Angelos Kanas & Panagiotis D. Zervopoulos, 2022. "Federal home loan bank advances and systemic risk," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1525-1557, November.
    7. Lawrence J. White & W. Scott Frame, 2009. "The Federal Home Loan Bank System: Current Issues in Perspective," Working Papers 09-18, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    8. James Cash Acrey & Wayne Y. Lee & Timothy J. Yeager, 2019. "Can Federal Home Loan Banks effectively self-regulate lending to influential banks?," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 197-210, June.
    9. Lawrence J. White, 2007. "Reducing Barriers to Services Trade: The U.S. Case," Working Papers 07-7, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    10. Levitin, Adam & Wachter, Susan, 2012. "Explaining the Housing Bubble," MPRA Paper 41920, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. W. Scott Frame, 2009. "The 2008 federal intervention to stabilize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    12. Patricia C. Mosser & Joseph Tracy & Joshua Wright, 2013. "The capital structure and governance of a mortgage securitization utility," Staff Reports 644, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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