Too Much Like Fannie And Freddie?

摘要

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were controversial for years before they fell into government conservatorship this year. But few people have considered thernrisks posed by the Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLB), even though it occupies the same gray area between the public and private sectors. Created by Congress in 1932 to bolster mortgage finance, the system, with its 12 member banks, lends to financial institutions of all sizes, with more than $900 billion in outstanding loans as of midyear, up 43% since 2006. Like Fannie and Freddie, the system can borrow cheaply because of the assumption that the federal government won't let it fail. As private cooperatives, the 12 banks make profits and pay dividends to their owners-more than 8,000 financial institutions.