Washington, DC - The House Financial Services Committee today passed H.R. 1427, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007. The bill will overhaul the regulatory oversight of the government sponsored enterprises (GSE) of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, and create a new, independent regulator with broad powers analogous to current banking regulators. In addition, the bill creates an off budget and non-taxpayer financed affordable housing fund, which will dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars for the construction, maintenance and preservation of affordable housing with the first year of the fund to be dedicated to the hurricane stricken areas of the Gulf Coast, and billions of dollars over the next five years for affordable housing nationwide. The bill, as amended, passed on a bipartisan majority of 45 to 19.
The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007 is the product of both bipartisan legislation in the 109th Congress and careful discussions and compromise with the Department of Treasury. The bill also comes after a series of legislative hearings on GSE reforms and proposals, where regulators and expert witnesses testified before both the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and the full Financial Services Committee.
In addition, the Committee adopted amendments concerning the composition of the boards of the enterprises and of the FHLB’s, use of the Affordable Housing Fund and the Affordable Housing Goals, provisions to promote diversity at the agency and at the regulated entities, and clarifying authorities of the agency in determining capital and supervising the operations of the regulated entities.
More information for insomniacs: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press032907.shtml
No comments:
Post a Comment