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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recommends a single government-guaranteed mortgage-backed security in any future housing finance system – echoing a key part of NAFCU's core principles for housing finance reform.

"NAFCU strongly supports a government guarantee and a secondary market with full, fair access and pricing for credit unions," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "From the initial look at FHFA's letter, we see elements of what may lead to meaningful housing finance reform. In 2018, we look forward to continuing to work with Congress to ensure NAFCU's housing finance reform principles are fully represented in any reform package."

FHFA Director Mel Watt shared the agency's objectives for a housing finance system with leaders of the Senate Banking Committee this week.

Other objectives put forward by the FHFA include:

• preserving the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage;
• ending taxpayer bailout for failing firms;
• maintaining liquidity in the housing finance market;
• attracting private capital to the housing finance system through both equity capital requirements and credit risk transfer (CRT) participation; and
• providing a level playing field for institutions of all sizes to access the secondary mortgage market.

Many of these proposals align with NAFCU's core housing finance reform principles, which was shared with members of Congress and top members of the administration, including the FHFA, last summer.