Search Results
Conference Paper
GSEs: why is effective government supervision hard to achieve?
Journal Article
Financial modernization, the FHLB and agricultural banks
Journal Article
The evolving role of the Federal Home Loan Banks in mortgage markets
The Federal Home Loan Banks are part of a system created by the federal government to promote home ownership. This Commentary looks at new initiatives undertaken by these government-sponsored enterprises to expand their role in financial markets-and the attendant implications for their balance sheets.
Working Paper
Federal Home Loan Bank advances and commercial bank portfolio composition
The primary mission of the 12 cooperatively owned Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) is to provide their members financial products and services to assist and enhance member housing finance. In this paper, we consider the role of the FHLBs' traditional product--"advances," or collateralized loans to members--in stabilizing commercial bank members' residential mortgage lending activities. ; Our theoretical model shows that using membership criteria (such as a minimum of 10 percent of the portfolio being in mortgage-related assets) or using mortgage-related assets as collateral does not ensure ...
Working Paper
The Federal Home Loan Bank System: the lender of next-to-last resort?
The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System is a large, complex, and understudied government-sponsored liquidity facility that currently has more than $1 trillion in secured loans outstanding, mostly to commercial banks and thrifts. This paper first documents the significant role played by the FHLB System at the outset of the ongoing financial crisis and then provides evidence about the uses of these funds by their bank and thrift members. We then identify the trade-offs faced by FHLB member-borrowers when choosing between accessing the FHLB System or the Federal Reserve's discount window during ...
Journal Article
Financing housing through government-sponsored enterprises
Three government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)-Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System-were created to improve the availability of home mortgage financing by supplementing local funding. But today's more evolved financial markets enable retail lenders to tap national markets. Thus, the main contribution of the three housing GSEs has become providing homebuyers an interest rate subsidy that is made possible by the GSEs' special relationship with the federal government. ; This article examines the economic issues arising from the provision of such subsidies via the housing ...
Working Paper
Federal Home Loan Bank lending to community banks: are targeted subsidies necessary?
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 extended the lending authority of Federal Home Loan Banks to include advances secured by small-enterprise loans of community financial institutions. The authors examine three possible reasons for the extension of this selective credit subsidy to community banks and thrifts, including the need to subsidize community depository institutions, stabilize the Federal Home Loan Banks, and address a market failure for small enterprise loans in rural banking markets. They use two empirical models to investigate whether funding constraints affect small-business ...
Journal Article
The housing giants in plain view
These government-sponsored enterprises continue to make headlines because of their explosive growth and resulting heavyweight status within the nation's financial system.
Report
The Federal Home Loan Bank System: the lender of next-to-last resort?
The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System is a large, complex, and understudied government-sponsored liquidity facility that currently has more than $1 trillion in secured loans outstanding, mostly to commercial banks and thrifts. In this paper, we document the significant role played by the FHLB System at the onset of the ongoing financial crises and then provide evidence on the uses of these funds by the System's bank and thrift members. Next, we identify the trade-offs faced by member-borrowers when choosing between accessing the FHLB System or the Federal Reserve's Discount Window during ...