This
afternoon, CUNA submitted comments on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s
(FHFA) Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2024. FHFA is responsible for
oversight of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) System, the Federal
National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation (Freddie Mac, and together with Fannie Mae, the GSEs). In its
Strategic Plan, FHFA proposed 3 strategic goals for its regulation of those entities:
- Ensuring
safe and sound regulated entities through world-class supervision;
- Fostering
competitive, liquid, efficient, and resilient (CLEAR) national housing
finance markets; and
- Positioning
the FHFA as a model of operational excellence by strengthening the
workforce and infrastructure.
In
the comment letter, CUNA expresses strong support for the FHFA’s strategic
goals, and points out where they overlap with CUNA’s Credit
Union Principles for Housing Finance Reform. In addition, we mentioned the
benefits credit unions derive from well-functioning and regulated FHLBanks and
the GSEs, and highlighted the strong correlation between their public
missions and the mission of credit unions to meet the lending needs of their
members and communities. Specifically, the letter states that FHFA should
continue its strong oversight and supervision, ensure that the secondary
mortgage market is “open to lenders of all sizes on an equitable basis,” and
strengthen its workforce through the recruitment of highly qualified, diverse
professionals.