Council of Federal Home Loan Banks

Last Friday, our President and CEO, Ryan Donovan had the chance to speak with Capital Account. Read his full interview below.

Governor Michelle Bowman's remarks on July 18 noted that the Federal Reserve Discount Window is "intended to be a source of liquidity as a last resort and at a penalty rate, not as a primary funding resource in the normal course of business at a market rate," whereas, banks manage liquidity "during business-as-usual operations and during times of stress, including repo markets and FHLB advances". This is an important distinction, while the FHLBanks provide everyday liquidity, the Federal Reserve discount window is a complementary liquidity provider/lender of last resort. Governor Bowman's remarks caution that before making changes to FHLBank or discount window operations/requirements, there must be carefully consideration of intended and unintended consequences on financial stability and liquidity. #FHLBanks #DicountWindow #Liquidity

Leading industry groups support the important liquidity mission of the Federal Home Loan Banks.

National Mortgage News does a great job of chronicling the important work the Federal Home Loan Banks are doing in promoting and funding affordable housing initiatives across the country.

Yesterday, the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks filed a comment letter responding to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's request for information on the #FHLBank mission, measurement and incentive programs. In our letter, we note that FHLBanks have a very clear mission, which only Congress may revise; we discuss how FHLBanks fulfill that mission; we call on FHFA to give FHLBank credit for all of their activites when measuring mission adherence; and we note the FHLBank Act limits the agency's ability to require FHLBanks to implement extra-statutory incentive programs. We look forward to continuing to work with FHFA as this process moves forward.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Bonnie Sinnock at the National Mortgage News about the FHLBanks 2023 Impact Report. The report highlights the exceptional achievements of FHLBanks over the past year, setting the stage for an even more significant impact on financial stability, housing finance, affordability, and community development in 2024. #FHLBanks #Finance #Housing #CommunityDevelopment #ImpactReport #FinancialStability #Affordability #2024Plans

Here is an article by Ryan Donovan on the Federal Home Loan Banks 2023 Impact Report that was released last week. The report includes over 50 case studies and testimonials highlighting the positive impact of FHLBank funding on families and local communities across the country.  #FHLBanks #AffordableHousing #ReliableLiquidity

We are proud to present the FHLBanks 2023 Community Impact Report, showcasing our commitment to building stronger communities: • $752M assessed for the Affordable Housing Program • $810B in advances outstanding, peaking at over $1T in March 2023 • $9.5B in Community Investment Program advances for housing • $203B in outstanding letters of credit • $61B in mortgage loans held Together, we are making a significant impact on housing and community development. #FHLBImpactReport #AffordableHousing #FHLBanks #BuildingBetter"

The Federal Home Loan Banks had the pleasure of hosting representatives from 100 insurance company members from across the country at the 2024 FHLBanks Insurance Conference in Chicago today. The event kicked off with welcome remarks from Jeff Kuzbel, President and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, followed by insights on successful risk-takers from founder of FiveThirtyEight and bestselling author, Nate Silver. We then had an economic update from Brett Ryan, Senior U.S. Economist at Deutsche Bank, followed by an engaging panel on the evolution of AI with Christina Bargeron of Voya Financial, Ole Jorgensen of Global Evolution - Conning, and moderated by Joseph Pursley, CIMA® of Nuveen, a TIAA company. A View from Washington session focused on the 2024 Presidential Race with Andy Blocker of Invesco US and Chris Rosello of MetLife, and was moderated by Ryan Donovan, President and CEO of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks. Our housing panel featured experts Kevin Gasvoda from Shelter Growth Capital Partners | SG Capital Partners, Laurie Goodman from Urban Institute, Preston Meyer from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and Daron Tubian from Barings, moderated by Kris Williams of Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. Additionally, the member usage panel explored the use of FHLBanks’ products for investments, liquidity, capital management and community investment with Richard Cage of Independence Blue Cross, Arthur Olunwa, CFA, FCCA of Aflac, and Hiren Patel, CFA of Palomar, moderated by Jason Steigman of Northwestern Mutual. We closed the day with a thought-provoking speech on climate action from John Kerry, the 68th Secretary of State and deeper conversation led by Tim Barrett, President and CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. Thanks to our valued insurance company members for joining us for an enriching day of knowledge-sharing and networking!

Thomas Vartanian makes so many great points in this op-ed that it's hard to highlight only one. Still, for me, this one stands out in light of the criticism that the FHLBank system receives from those who say the system is broken or the FHLBanks aren't fulfilling our mission: "The Federal Home Loan Banks have done no more and no less than what Congress has empowered them to do. Some would like to make them more direct contributors, beyond the 15 percent of profits many of them already set aside for affordable housing. This is a worthwhile discussion point, but not what they were established to do under current law. Those issues are for Congress to decide. Hopefully, lawmakers understand that making the Federal Home Loan Banks into the direct housing subsidy business would be a mistake. That is a job that their member institutions are far better positioned to handle.  While not perfect, the FHLBank System is arguably the most successful federal program implemented in the last century. The best way for these banks to assist all levels of housing needs is by continuing to help their member banks maintain the most effective mortgage funding system in the world."