Federal Housing Finance Agency – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final rule on the housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2018 through 2020. The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (the Safety and Soundness Act) requires FHFA to establish annual housing goals for mortgages purchased by the Enterprises. The housing goals include separate categories for single-family and multifamily mortgages on housing that is affordable to low-income and very low-income families, among other categories. The final rule establishes the benchmark levels for each of the housing goals and subgoals for 2018 through 2020. In addition, the final rule makes a number of clarifying and conforming changes, including revisions to the requirements for the housing plan that an Enterprise may be required to submit to FHFA in response to a failure to achieve one or more of the housing goals or subgoals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap on average total assets that is used in determining whether a Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) member qualifies as a ``community financial institution'' (CFI) to $1,173,000,000, based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes took effect on January 1, 2018.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) gives notice of a new proposed Privacy Act system of records. The new proposed system is: Applicant Tracking System (FHFA-25). The Applicant Tracking System will be used by FHFA to post and publicize mission critical occupation job openings using FHFA's authority to hire examiners, accountants, economists, and specialists in financial markets and in technology. The System will be used to receive, store, and process resumes, applications, curriculum vitaes, and similar documents received in response to mission critical occupation job openings, and recruiting and outreach events. In addition, the System will be used to track applicants for such positions.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning an information collection known as the ``Monthly Survey of Rates and Terms on Conventional 1- Family Nonfarm Mortgage Loans (MIRS),'' which has been assigned control number 2590-0004 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three-year extension of the control number, which is due to expire on July 31, 2017.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a proposed rule with request for comments on the housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2018 through 2020. The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (the Safety and Soundness Act) requires FHFA to establish annual housing goals for mortgages purchased by the Enterprises. The housing goals include separate categories for single-family and multifamily mortgages on housing that is affordable to low-income and very low- income families, among other categories. The existing housing goals for the Enterprises include benchmark levels for each housing goal through the end of 2017. This proposed rule would establish benchmark levels for each of the housing goals and subgoals for 2018 through 2020. In addition, the proposed rule would make a number of clarifying and conforming changes, including revisions to the requirements for the housing plan that an Enterprise may be required to submit in response to a failure to achieve one or more of the housing goals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or Agency) is adopting a final rule revising its regulation governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership to implement section 82001 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which amended the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to authorize certain credit unions without Federal share insurance to become Bank members. The rule also makes appropriate conforming changes to FHFA's regulation on Bank membership. The final rule is substantially the same as the proposed rule, but includes one revision intended to streamline the application process for credit unions applying for Bank membership pursuant to the FAST Act provision.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning an information collection known as the ``Monthly Survey of Rates and Terms on Conventional 1- Family Nonfarm Mortgage Loans (MIRS),'' which has been assigned control number 2590-0004 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three-year extension of the control number, which is due to expire on July 31, 2017.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is prescribing this final rule to establish its minority and women outreach program (MWOP), pursuant to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA); the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act); and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2008 (Dodd-Frank Act). This final rule also redesignates the current Minority and Women Inclusion (MWI) regulation (``Minority and Women Inclusion Final Rule,'' ``MWI Rule,'' or ``2010 Final Rule''), in the Code of Federal Regulations to subchapter B of FHFA's regulations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reviews all applicable Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) members every two years under FHFA's community support requirements regulation. FHFA is undertaking its review for the 2017 review cycle. This Notice invites the public to comment on the community support performance of individual members.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) amended the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) to establish a duty for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises) to serve three specified underserved marketsmanufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural marketsin order to increase the liquidity of mortgage investments and improve the distribution of investment capital available for mortgage financing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in those markets. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this final rule which specifies the scope of Enterprise activities that are eligible to receive Duty to Serve credit. These activities generally are those that facilitate a secondary market for mortgages related to: Manufactured homes titled as real property or personal property; blanket loans for certain categories of manufactured housing communities; preserving the affordability of housing for renters and homebuyers; and housing in rural markets. The final rule provides a framework for FHFA's method for evaluating and rating the Enterprises' compliance with the Duty to Serve each underserved market.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning the information collection known as the ``National Survey of Mortgage Originations'' (NSMO), which has been assigned control number 2590-0012 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (the collection was previously known as the ``National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers''). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three-year extension of the control number, which is due to expire on December 31, 2016.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is making a revision to an existing system of records entitled ``National Mortgage Database Project'' (FHFA-21). The system of records covers the National Mortgage Database Project which is comprised of the National Mortgage Database, the National Survey of Mortgage Originations (formerly known as the National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers), and the American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers. The National Mortgage Database Project is for monitoring, researching, analyzing, and reporting information relevant to the functioning of the mortgage markets.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing this final rule to reorganize and relocate the current regulation governing the Federal Home Loan Banks' (Banks) Acquired Member Asset (AMA) programs. More significantly, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), it removes and replaces references in the current regulation to, and requirements based on, ratings issued by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO). It also provides a Bank greater flexibility in choosing the model it can use to estimate the credit enhancement required for AMA loans. Additionally, the final rule adds a provision allowing a Bank to authorize the transfer of mortgage servicing rights on AMA loans to any institution, including a nonmember of the Federal Home Loan Bank System (Bank System). The final rule allows the Banks to acquire mortgage loans that exceed the conforming loan limits if they are guaranteed or insured by a department or agency of the U.S. government. The final rule excludes a proposed provision that would have eliminated the use of private, loan-level, supplemental mortgage insurance (SMI) in the member credit enhancement structure required by the AMA regulation, but does require Banks to establish financial and operational standards that insurers must meet to be qualified to provide insurance on AMA loans. Finally, the final rule deletes some obsolete provisions from the current regulation, and clarifies certain other provisions.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning a new information collection known as ``Contractor Workforce Inclusion Good Faith Efforts.'' This information collection has not yet been assigned a control number by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three-year control number.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is correcting the regulatory text, and extending the comment period for, the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on September 20, 2016, regarding Golden Parachute and Indemnification Payments. FHFA is taking this action to correct and to extend the comment period to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments on the proposed rule.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning the currently-approved information collection known as ``Federal Home Loan Bank Capital Stock,'' which has been assigned control number 2590-0002 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (the collection was previously known as ``Capital Requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks''). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three- year extension of the control number, which is due to expire on December 31, 2016.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or Agency) is proposing to amend its regulations governing Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) membership to implement section 82001 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which amended section 4(a) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) to authorize certain credit unions without Federal share insurance to become Bank members. This proposed rule also would make appropriate conforming changes to FHFA's membership regulations.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking public comments concerning an expired information collection known as ``Community Support Requirements,'' which was assigned control number 2590-0005 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a reinstatement of the control number, which expired on February 29, 2016, for a period of three years.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) is seeking public comments concerning the currently-approved information collection known as the ``National Survey of Mortgage Originations'' (NSMO), which has been assigned control number 2590-0012 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (the collection was previously known as the ``National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers''). FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and approval of a three- year extension of the control number, which is due to expire on December 31, 2016.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA, and FHFA (each an ``Agency'' and, collectively, the ``Agencies'') are adopting exemptions from the initial and variation margin requirements published by the Agencies in November 2015 pursuant to sections 731 and 764 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the ``Dodd-Frank Act'' or the ``Act''). Pursuant to Title III of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (``TRIPRA''), this final rule exempts certain non-cleared swaps and non-cleared security-based swaps with certain financial and non-financial end users that qualify for an exception or exemption from clearing.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is adopting an interim final rule to implement the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) (PFCRA), by establishing administrative procedures for imposing civil penalties and assessments against persons who make false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims or written statements to FHFA in the context of its contracting or employment activities, where the amount of money or the value of property or services involved or requested from FHFA is $150,000 or less. FHFA previously issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement PFCRA. This rule is issued as an interim final rule rather than as a final rule because it increases the maximum penalty amount set forth in the proposed rule as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Adjustment Improvements Act), and that Act also requires that such ``catch up'' adjustments be published in the form of an interim final rule. If, prior to the effective date of the interim final rule, FHFA does not receive any comments from which FHFA concludes that the rule should be revised, this rule will become final without further action by FHFA.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, FHFA, NCUA, and SEC (the Agencies) are seeking comment on a joint proposed rule (the proposed rule) to revise the proposed rule the Agencies published in the Federal Register on April 14, 2011, and to implement section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 956 generally requires that the Agencies jointly issue regulations or guidelines: (1) Prohibiting incentive-based payment arrangements that the Agencies determine encourage inappropriate risks by certain financial institutions by providing excessive compensation or that could lead to material financial loss; and (2) requiring those financial institutions to disclose information concerning incentive- based compensation arrangements to the appropriate Federal regulator.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) gives notice of a revision to an existing Privacy Act system of records. The existing system is Emergency Notification System (FHFA-14) and is being revised in its entirety. The system is being revised to add additional information that is being collected; to change the location of the system; and to update the routine uses of the system. The revised system will contain information that FHFA will use to maintain emergency contact information for current FHFA employees and contractor personnel. The system will provide for high- speed message delivery that reaches agency and contractor personnel in response to threat alerts issued by the Department of Homeland Security, weather related emergencies, or other critical situations that disrupt the operations of and accessibility to an FHFA worksite. The system also provides for personnel accountability during an emergency through personnel sign-in and rapid alert and notification.