Financial Reform Watch : Financial Services News & Information : Blank Rome Government Relations Lobbying Firm : Government Relations, Corporate Governance : Financial Reform Watch Law Blog

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) appears primed to strike the first blow against the Obama administration’s nearly two-year effort to mitigate U.S. home foreclosures through its signature Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). During a markup this morning, Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) said a final committee vote will occur next week to terminate the program he argues is doing “more harm than good for struggling homeowners.”

Created in March of 2009, HAMP aims to assist struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure by providing federal incentives for borrowers, servicers and investors to modify delinquent home loans through interest rate reductions, mortgage term extensions, and temporary principal forbearance. Although the Obama administration’s initial goal was to permanently modify three to four million home loans, HAMP has led to only 600,000 permanent modifications. According to newly-released Treasury statistics, between April 2009 and the end of January 2011, 1.5 million HAMP trial modifications were initiated – meaning that well over half of all initial modifications have resulted in failure.

Although HAMP was originally provided nearly $30 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), as of February, only $1.04 billion in incentive payments have been disbursed to mortgage servicers under HAMP, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Critics of HAMP often cite an October 2010 report from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) asserting that failed loan modifications under the program have led to higher outstanding principal, less home equity, and worse credit score for some participating troubled borrowers. Critics have also noted that no enforcement mechanisms are in place for servicers who violate the HAMP guidelines, largely due to the program’s voluntary nature.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Resolving a Federal budget impasse that threatens the first government-wide shutdown since 1995 will undoubtedly be Congress’s top priority when it returns on Monday following a week-long President’s Day recess. But who says lawmakers can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? Below is a preview of next week’s critical financial services hearings on Capitol Hill, as both chambers continue to oversee the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and discuss various proposals for reforming the housing finance sector.

GSE Reform

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will make his first appearance of the year before the full House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) on Tuesday to discuss the Obama Administration’s long-awaited report to Congress—unveiled on February 11—that details both short-term administration initiatives and long-term options for reforming Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. House Republicans have targeted GSE reform as a key agenda item for the 112th Congress, as the HFSC has already conducted three separate hearings related to housing finance this Congress.

In addition, HFSC Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) announced yesterday that his committee will be marking up four separate bills that will seek to terminate Obama administration foreclosure and housing assistance programs that Bachus argues are “doing more harm than good for struggling homeowners.” The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the FHA Refinance Program, and the Emergency Homeowner Relief Program would all be terminated under the GOP proposals.

Republicans have been particularly critical of HAMP, a program spearheaded in March of 2009 by the Obama administration to assist struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure by providing federal incentives for borrowers, servicers and investors to modify delinquent home loans. HAMP has led to over 500,000 permanently modified home loans, yet has fallen far short of the Obama administration’s initial goal of 3 to 4 million modifications.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit – chaired by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore-Capito – will conduct a hearing entitled "The Effect of Dodd-Frank on Small Financial Institutions and Small Businesses.” The CFPB’s potential impact on U.S. job creation and commercial credit access are likely to dominate the discussion.

The hearing follows the House’s passage on February 19 of a Continuing Resolution (CR) – a bill to fund government operations through September 30, 2011—that would cap the Federal Reserve’s funding for the CFPB at $80 million, representing a steep cut from the $134 million the White House requested for the agency’s FY11 start-up costs. Under the Dodd-Frank legislation, once the CFPB is officially established in July 2011, its funding will derive from the Federal Reserve’s operating expenses budget and could be as high as $500 million in FY12.

During the House budget debate, Chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) defended the hefty cuts. "Providing half a billion dollars a year without any congressional oversight to the bureau is, I believe, a very irresponsible abdication of a constitutional check and balance," said Emerson.

Derivatives

Newly-minted Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will hold a hearing on Thursday to review agency implementation of Dodd-Frank’s provisions related to the regulation of over-the-counter swaps markets.

The hearing will primarily focus on Dodd-Frank’s imposition of enhanced regulatory requirements on the derivative market and its participants, including a requirement for stringent margin and capital requirements for all derivative market participants. During a HFSC oversight hearing on February 15, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler attempted to alleviate lawmaker and industry concerns that the new derivatives regulations will negatively impact so-called commercial “end-users” – those businesses ranging from farm equipment manufacturers to breweries -- who seek to hedge against interest rates and raw material prices through derivatives contracts. Gensler testified that the CFTC, which has been given broad leeway in determining the businesses who will be exempted under the law, does not intend to target legitimate commercial end-users.

Stay tuned for hearing updates next week.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner notified Congress today that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) would be extended until October 3, 2010 – a move that, although expected, adds fuel to an ongoing debate on Capitol Hill whether to wind down the politically unpopular program or utilize its excess funds for broader economic recovery efforts.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Geithner sought to quell political concerns by outlining a TARP “exit strategy” and narrowing the program’s focus to three specific areas in 2010: home foreclosure mitigation; small-business lending; and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) in order to facilitate lending through securitization markets.  According to Geithner, no TARP funds will be spent beyond these specific areas “unless necessary to respond to an immediate and substantial threat to the economy.”  In addition, the Capital Purchase Program – aimed at boosting bank lending through nearly $250 billion in direct capital injections – will cease.

Key to the administration’s TARP extension is the assumption that only $550 billion of the $700 billion program will be necessary for deployment, a figure buoyed by Treasury estimates that TARP-recipient banks could repay as much as $175 billion by the end of 2010.  Sanguine figures such as these have opened the floodgates to recent congressional proposals that would use TARP proceeds to create or expand economic recovery initiatives -- including a job-creation proposal outlined yesterday by President Obama – and, at the same time, remain budget-neutral.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

After nearly four months of delay, the Treasury on Wednesday launched the Legacy Securities program—a key component of the administration’s Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) aimed at relieving financial institutions of illiquid assets that continue to hamper the flow of credit markets.

Scaling back the scope of the Legacy Securities program as originally envisioned in March, the Treasury, together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve, offered a framework that will provide government investments of up to $30 billion so that private sector fund managers and private investors might purchase legacy commercial mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and non-agency MBS off the balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions.

Selected from a pool of over 100 applicants, below is a list of the nine private fund managers pre-qualified by Treasury to participate in the initial round of the Legacy Securities program:

• AllianceBernstein, LP and its sub-advisors Greenfield Partners, LLC and Rialto Capital Management, LLC
• Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. and GE Capital Real Estate
• BlackRock, Inc.
• Invesco Ltd.
• Marathon Asset Management, L.P.
• Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
• RLJ Western Asset Management, LP.
• The TCW Group, Inc.
• Wellington Management Company, LLP

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Investors will have to wait longer than expected for the Legacy Loans Program (LLP), the FDIC half of the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) to relieve banks of their troubled assets. The LLP pilot, which the FDIC had originally planned to launch in June, will now be postponed indefinitely. In its place, however, the FDIC plans to “test the funding mechanism contemplated by the LLP” by selling receivership assets. The FDIC says it will draw “upon concepts successfully employed by the Resolution Trust Corporation in the 1990s, which routinely assisted in the financing of asset sales through responsible use of leverage.” The FDIC says it will “solicit bids for this sale of receivership assets in July.”

While FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the FDIC will continue to work on developing the legacy loans program in order to “offer it in the future,” she explained the reason for the postponement was that banks lately have been raising capital without it, reflecting “renewed investor confidence in our banking system.” She went on to say, “As a consequence, banks and their supervisors will take additional time to assess the magnitude and timing of troubled asset sales as part of our larger efforts to strengthen the banking sector.”

There was no mention whether or not the Legacy Securities Program, which is managed by the Federal Reserve and Treasury, would be delayed. One could reasonably guess, reading between the lines, that banks have been less than enthusiastic about discounting and selling loans through the LLP.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Treasury Department yesterday released its new improved “Making Home Affordable” (MHA) program that will now offer assistance for second mortgages, such as home equity loans, in addition to assistance with first mortgages. The administration announced the MHA in February and released the details in early March. Tuesday’s announcement addressed the expansion of MHA as well as more support for the Hope for Homeowners program. Treasury estimates that 50 percent of “at risk” mortgages also have second liens. Under the new program, both first and second mortgages would be modified “in tandem.” Interest rates on second loans would be reduced to one percent, unless they are interest-only loans, in which cases the rate would be two percent. The term of the modified second loan would be extended to match the term of the modified first mortgage. After five years, the interest rate on the second would be adjusted to the same rate as the modified first mortgage, and the second mortgage would be re-amortized over the remaining term at the higher rate. The MHA also includes “pay for success” incentives for servicers and borrowers similar to those announced for first mortgage relief.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In a more subdued response to the AIG bonus brouhaha than last week, the House Financial Services Committee yesterday approved legislation that would amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to prohibit companies receiving TARP money from paying “unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards.” Two Republicans, Reps. Ed Royce (CA) and Walter B. Jones (NC), broke ranks to vote with the committee’s Democrats in favor of the bill (H.R. 1664). Some of our Congressional sources have said the full House may vote on H.R. 1664 as early as next week. The Senate, however, is almost certain not to address executive compensation until after it returns on April 20th from the spring Congressional recess. Democratic leaders from both sides of the Capitol have greatly dialed down the executive compensation rhetoric since last week.

Under H.R. 1664, the Treasury Secretary, with the members of the Financial Institutions Examination Council, would have a month to define “unreasonable and excessive compensation” and set performance based standards that companies would use to determine circumstances under which a bonus or retention payment would be allowed. Examples of the standards Treasury is to include are the stability of the financial institution; its ability to repay the government; individual performance; employees’ adherence to risk management requirements; and any others that would provide greater accountability to shareholders and taxpayers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

At last Treasury has come forward with its Public Private Investment Program for dealing with toxic assets, only now that there is a plan, the proper term is “troubled legacy assets.” Stocks have rallied since Treasury announced the plan this morning, and legislators on Capitol Hill have halted their rush to claw back the AIG bonus money, some say partly in order to study the new plan. The Treasury Secretary is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. Will the positive momentum continue up to and following his hearing performance? Secretary Geithner has a lot riding on this week.

The plan, which will use $100 billion of TARP funds, has two parts intended to revive the anemic financial system—the Public Private Investment Fund (PPIF) for Legacy Loans and the PPIF for Legacy Securities. Both are aimed at residential and commercial real estate-related assets. Banks tend to hold the assets as loans and entities such as insurers, pension funds, mutual funds and individual retirement accounts tend to hold the assets as securities backed by loans. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation with Treasury will work to create PPIFs that will purchase “loans and other asset pools” from participating banks, and the FDIC will determine eligibility criteria. The FDIC will also be using contractors to help it analyze loan pools and determine the level of debt to be issued by the PPIFs (with leverage not exceeding a 6 to 1 debt-to-equity ratio). The FDIC will then auction off each loan pool to the highest bidder. Treasury will provide 50 percent of equity financing and the private sector auction winner will provide the other 50 percent. The private sector winner can obtain financing by issuing new debt, which the FDIC will guarantee, that is collateralized by the purchase.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

There was plenty of activity in Washington this week but none of it enough to settle the roiling stock market, which keeps sinking like a rock. Is there too much activity or not enough of the right kind of activity?

From the White House and the Treasury—The Obama Administration released the details of its “Making Home Affordable” program, which was introduced in February. With incentives for mortgage holders and servicers, audit and documentation requirements, and qualification limits, major industry players such as the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association reacted positively to the new details.

From the Treasury—Secretary Tim Geithner was on Capitol Hill most of the week defending and explaining the president’s budget proposal, especially the $250 billion “contingent reserve” amount in the Treasury budget to support up to $750 billion worth of asset purchases. Geithner assured the Senate Finance Committee that the $750 billion is not an estimate of future rescue efforts, but rather “just a recognition of reality that it’s possible we’re going to need to do this with more resources.” The Secretary promised to provide more details in the coming weeks on future bailout efforts, including plans for the remaining $300 billion of TARP funds, and the eagerly anticipated public private partnership to take on troubled assets.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Treasury Department yesterday afternoon began to release some much anticipated details of the Obama Administration’s Financial Stability Plan first announced on February 10th—TARP re-branded. Yesterday was all about the Capital Assistance Program (CAP) and the related "stress test" that regulators will perform on the 19 largest banks, those with consolidated assets in excess of $100 billion. Treasury announced,

"The purpose of the CAP is to restore confidence throughout the financial system that the nation’s largest banking institutions have a sufficient capital cushion against larger than expected future losses, should they occur due to a more severe economic environment, and to support lending to creditworthy borrowers."

If the stress test shows that a bank needs a larger capital buffer, then the bank has six months to raise the necessary amount of private capital or access the CAP, which Treasury describes as "a bridge to private capital in the future." The CAP funds would be available to the bank immediately.

The administration stressed it wants to keep government ownership temporary and will encourage replacing the government’s stake with private capital. Additionally, the Treasury announced it would set up a separate trust "to manage the government’s investments in US financial institutions."  There were no further details about the trust, but Financial Reform Watch will continue to monitor this.

Treasury:  The Capital Assistance Program and its role in the Financial Stability Plan (PDF)

Treasury: Capital Assistance Program FAQs (PDF)

Treasury: Capital Assistance Program Term Sheet (PDF)

Federal Reserve/FDIC: Supervisory Capital Assistance Program FAQs (PDF)

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Congress was out of town when President Obama unveiled his “Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan” this week, but that has not stopped key Members of Congress from weighing in on the plan and handicappers from starting to take odds on how reaction to the plan will affect other issues at play in the Capital.

Unsurprisingly, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) applauded the Obama plan and promised more relief, saying,

“Congress stands ready to complement the Administration’s efforts by acting on Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers’ legislation to reform our bankruptcy laws, so that judges can modify mortgages and responsible homeowners can stay in their homes.”

The Conyers’ legislation would alter bankruptcy laws so that judges could reduce or “cram-down” the mortgage principal and/or payments on a borrower’s primary residence.

Just as unsurprising was the reaction of Pelosi’s counterpart, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) who, along with House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), sent a letter to the president with a list of  “key questions” about the plan. Their questions are compelling regardless of where people stand on the plan.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

While the results of the G7 meeting in Rome may have been disappointing to some, due to a communiqué light on substance, it can be argued it made a step in the right direction in combating protectionism. The communiqué included this statement:

"An open system of global trade and investment is indispensable for global prosperity. The G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, which would only exacerbate the downturn, to refraining from raising new barriers and to working towards a quick and ambitious conclusion of the Doha Round.”

 Another development at the meeting was the apparent softening of the German government's attitude about "bailouts" of euro-bloc nations needing to refinance debt. Whereas German Finance Minister Peter Steinbreuck said before the G7 meeting that Austria would have to solve its own problems, Steinbreuck's post-G7 statements appear to open the door for assistance to Austria as well as Ireland and Greece, who may also soon need help.

The EU states are now working hard to find a solution that would essentially be a preemptive de facto bailout, bearing in mind the legal limitations of the EU Treaty which has a "no bailout" clause. A common EU policy on state and bank bailouts would constitute a huge leap forward for EU integration.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today announced the administration’s new “Financial Stability Plan” but revealed few details beyond the plan’s overarching principles. The new plan aims to provide more capital for banks while holding them to higher lending and accountability standards, establish a public-private investment fund to deal with “troubled” assets, provide more assistance to homeowners and small businesses, and increase the transparency of the program in order to protect taxpayers.

After an unusual introduction by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd—presumably intended to underscore the administration’s dual commitment to the economic stimulus legislation intended to jump start the economy and fixing the financial system—Geithner described the current situation. He said credit markets are not working, which has led to serious business cut backs and resulted in a financial system “working against recovery.” Geithner criticized the government’s efforts thus far as “absolutely essential, but they were inadequate.”

Following the Treasury announcement, the stock market nose-dived all afternoon, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 4.6 percent and the Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index slipping 4.9 percent. Several financial analysts directly linked the market’s poor performance to the plan’s lack of detail, especially regarding the Public Private Investment Fund intended to leverage private capital with government financing. Some analysts contend that today’s announcement exacerbated the uncertainty plaguing the markets. When reporters questioned Geithner about filling in the blanks around the public private partnership, he responded that the administration does not want to release details until they are fully confident they have the right structure. He said they are very committed to bringing in private capital.

Here is a brief overview of the Financial Stability Plan:

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

What will it take to jolt the U.S. economy back into shape? Congressional leaders have floated ideas for an economic stimulus package ranging from $500 to $700 billion. President-elect Obama is not espousing numbers yet but has assembled his economic team and charged it with developing recommendations for restoring economic growth and creating 2.5 million jobs. While serious rumors about his economic advisors started circulating last week, Obama officially presented the group at a noon press conference today:

• Treasury Secretary—Timothy F. Geithner, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and former long-time Treasury official
• Director of the National Economic Council—Lawrence H. Summers, former Clinton Administration Treasury Secretary and Harvard economist
• Director of the Council of Economic Advisors—Christina D. Romer, University of California at Berkeley economics professor
• Director of the Domestic Policy Council—Melody C. Barnes, former counsel to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and policy director of the Center for American Progress
• Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council—Heather A. Higginbottom, former legislative director and presidential campaign advisor to Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

October 23 was a busy day for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair. In the morning, she testified before the Senate Banking Committee and made headlines about what the FDIC is doing to assist homeowners avoid foreclosures. In the afternoon, she presided over an FDIC Board of Directors meeting wherein the board adopted an interim rule for implementing the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.

Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), the Treasury Secretary has authority to modify mortgage loans in order to prevent foreclosures. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd claims authorship of those provisions in the bill. However, in recent days, Congressional Democrats have complained the Bush Administration is putting too much emphasis on shoring up banks and not enough on helping homeowners directly. In fact, earlier in the week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wrote a joint letter to President Bush urging him to appoint Bair “to head a government-wide effort to supervise and coordinate” a foreclosure reduction program.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A short time ago, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced some much-awaited details about the Department’s Capital Purchase Program (CPP). The Treasury will invest $250 billion of capital to U.S. financial institutions in the form of preferred stock. Nine of the largest banks have already agreed to participate in the CPP, which leaves $125 billion remaining. Paulson stressed that the program will not be implemented on a first-come-first-served basis, stating, "Sufficient capital has been allocated so that all qualifying banks can participate."

The Department has developed a single application form for qualified, interested banks to submit to their primary federal regulator—the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, or the Office of Thrift Supervision. Once a bank’s primary regulator reviews the application, the regulator will forward the bank’s application to Treasury’s Office of Financial Stability for approval. Paulson said Treasury will "give considerable weight" to the recommendations of the federal regulators. The terms will be the same for all applicants, and regulators will use a standardized review process. Treasury will announce all transactions within 48 hours of execution; however, the Treasury will not publicly reveal any applications that are withdrawn or denied. The application deadline remains November 14, 2008.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

World stock markets responded well this morning to the emerging consensus among European and U.S. officials to focus on capitalizing banks with government funds in exchange for an ownership stake in them. Wednesday's announcement from U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown that he plans to inject capital directly into banks and to guarantee interbank lending accelerated momentum for similar moves by the United States and European central bankers. Meetings on Friday and over the weekend among the G7 finance ministers and at the International Monetary Fund in Washington helped to bring these key players into alignment.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department took further steps to implement the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In a speech this morning before the Institute of International Bankers, acting assistant secretary of the Office of Financial Stability (OFS) Neel Kashkari outlined progress and the seven internal policy teams established to execute the TARP: 

1. Mortgage-backed Securities Purchase Program—will examine which assets to purchase, from whom, and how
2. Whole Loan Purchase Program—will work with bank regulators to determine which loans to purchase first, how to value them, and how to purchase them
3. Insurance Program—on Friday, Treasury solicited public comments on how to insure troubled assets; comments are due within 14 days, at which point OFS will develop the program
4. Equity Purchase Program—will establish a standardized program to buy equity in a broad array of financial institutions; program will be voluntary with attractive terms so healthy institutions will participate and also raise private capital to complement public capital
5. Homeownership Preservation—will work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help homeowners when the Treasury purchases mortgages and mortgage-backed securities
6. Executive Compensation Program—will define firms’ participation requirements for three scenarios: auction purchase of troubled assets, broad equity or direct purchase program, and an intervention to prevent the failure of a systemically significant firm
7. Compliance Program—will set up the Oversight Board, the on-site participation of the General Accounting Office, the selection of a special inspector general, and all the reporting mechanisms

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link