There's plenty of finger-pointing and opinions to go around in the heated
debate over what caused the nation's financial meltdown of 2007. To get to
the true triggers, President Obama formed the Financial
Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), tasked with grilling "hundreds" of people
from the investment community, large banks, mortgage industry, government
agencies, and academia.In January, committee members probed the chiefs of big banks
and financial regulators.
This week, the commission held its second round of hearings,
and the topic was "Subprime Lending and Securitization and
Government-Sponsored Enterprises." On Friday, it was former president and
CEO of Fannie Mae, Daniel Mudd, and the GSE's former chief business officer,
Robert Levin, in the hot seat. The two execs said it was Wall Street firms muscling in on the
mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market and pinching the GSEs' business that
led Fannie Mae to take greater risks in the years before the mortgage
crisis. "Fannie Mae's market share fell from its historical level of approximately
40 percent to nearly 20 percent, as the private sector, including banks,
Wall Street, and mortgagespecialist, moved into the market," Mudd told the FCIC. "[But] in the midst
of the turmoil," he said, "virtually every other investor fled the market,
and the GSEs were specifically required to take up the slack."In addition, Levin said, "Because Fannie Mae, unlike other financial
institutions, was restricted by its charter to one class of assets, Fannie
Mae took the brunt of the crisis head on."According to both Mudd and Levin, the housing goals Fannie Mae's regulator
set for the GSE to meet weren't in line with market demand. The company was
forced to adopt "different underwriting and pricing standards," in
particular for nontraditional subprime and Alt-A loan products, to create
business in order to meet these goals, Levin explained.In his testimony, Mudd said, "It became clear that the movement towards
nontraditional products was not a fad, but a growing and permanent change in
the mortgage marketplace, which the GSEs could not ignore."Levin also noted that Fannie's charter as a public and private entity
created "conflicting objectives."Mudd concurred, saying his "ultimate assessment [is] that the cause of the
GSEs' troubles lies with their business model."It's precisely this thinking that has Congress and the administration
dead-set on reshaping the mortgage finance market and the structure of the
GSEs.The FCIC's inquisition will continue over the months ahead, taking aim at
such topics as complex financial derivatives, credit rating agencies, the
shadow banking system, and "too big to fail." The commission will report its
conclusions on December 15. Promote your business and
services online and offline, find out when our next mixer is.Connect with other successful
womenReal Estate Investing Education,
take advantage of today's real estate marketBuild Your Business-Drive Your Dream Promo
Code: legendwww.TotalSolutionsAlliance.com Connect with me on Facebook
Twitter LinkedIn
debate over what caused the nation's financial meltdown of 2007. To get to
the true triggers, President Obama formed the Financial
Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), tasked with grilling "hundreds" of people
from the investment community, large banks, mortgage industry, government
agencies, and academia.In January, committee members probed the chiefs of big banks
and financial regulators.
This week, the commission held its second round of hearings,
and the topic was "Subprime Lending and Securitization and
Government-Sponsored Enterprises." On Friday, it was former president and
CEO of Fannie Mae, Daniel Mudd, and the GSE's former chief business officer,
Robert Levin, in the hot seat. The two execs said it was Wall Street firms muscling in on the
mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market and pinching the GSEs' business that
led Fannie Mae to take greater risks in the years before the mortgage
crisis. "Fannie Mae's market share fell from its historical level of approximately
40 percent to nearly 20 percent, as the private sector, including banks,
Wall Street, and mortgagespecialist, moved into the market," Mudd told the FCIC. "[But] in the midst
of the turmoil," he said, "virtually every other investor fled the market,
and the GSEs were specifically required to take up the slack."In addition, Levin said, "Because Fannie Mae, unlike other financial
institutions, was restricted by its charter to one class of assets, Fannie
Mae took the brunt of the crisis head on."According to both Mudd and Levin, the housing goals Fannie Mae's regulator
set for the GSE to meet weren't in line with market demand. The company was
forced to adopt "different underwriting and pricing standards," in
particular for nontraditional subprime and Alt-A loan products, to create
business in order to meet these goals, Levin explained.In his testimony, Mudd said, "It became clear that the movement towards
nontraditional products was not a fad, but a growing and permanent change in
the mortgage marketplace, which the GSEs could not ignore."Levin also noted that Fannie's charter as a public and private entity
created "conflicting objectives."Mudd concurred, saying his "ultimate assessment [is] that the cause of the
GSEs' troubles lies with their business model."It's precisely this thinking that has Congress and the administration
dead-set on reshaping the mortgage finance market and the structure of the
GSEs.The FCIC's inquisition will continue over the months ahead, taking aim at
such topics as complex financial derivatives, credit rating agencies, the
shadow banking system, and "too big to fail." The commission will report its
conclusions on December 15. Promote your business and
services online and offline, find out when our next mixer is.Connect with other successful
womenReal Estate Investing Education,
take advantage of today's real estate marketBuild Your Business-Drive Your Dream Promo
Code: legendwww.TotalSolutionsAlliance.com Connect with me on Facebook
Twitter LinkedIn
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