Actively negotiating new Fannie, Freddie amendment.
Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration is currently looking to end the profit sweep of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Mnuchin explained that not only is President Donald Trump trying to end the profit sweep, but it is looking to do it soon.
“We are actively negotiating an amendment try to get it done by the end of the month,” Mnuchin said Thursday in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
And Cowen Washington Research Group put out a note to clients saying the profit sweep may end as early as this month.
“We expect a deal prior to Sept. 30 in which Fannie and Freddie will stop paying a quarterly dividend to Treasury,” Cowen Managing Director Jaret Seiberg wrote in the note. “Instead, they will pay a commitment fee for the outstanding preferred capital line. This means they can retain the rest of their profits in order to rebuild capital.”
Freddie Mac has repaid a total of $119.7 billion to the Treasury, exceeding its original draw during the financial crisis by about $48.1 billion. Fannie Mae has drawn a total of $181.4 billion, compared to $119.8 billion that it drew.
But now the profit sweeps may be coming to an end as the GSEs prepare to exit conservatorship. Because the profit sweeps were enacted via an executive order, Trump should be able to end the profit sweeps without waiting on legislative action.
Mnuchin also explained that Trump already approved of the Treasury’s plan to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday Mnuchin didn’t confirm if Trump approved the plan, but he did confirm it later.
On September 5th, the Trump administration released its long-awaited plan to reform the nation’s housing finance system and privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, calling it the “last unfinished business of the financial crisis.”
