Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco has announced a restructuring of the agency’s safety and soundness and mission offices including the establishment of an integrated supervision structure and a revamped housing mission and policy division. Changes in the supervision program structure will promote greater uniformity and consistency in the examinations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks). FHFA plans to have the new structure in place by the end of the first
quarter of 2011. The new housing mission team will focus on policy matters involving the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including loss mitigation activities, public reporting on the activities of FHFA’s regulated entities, affordable housing, the state of the secondary mortgage market, and Dodd-Frank Act-related activities.
“With these changes, we are building on the strengths of our enterprise and Federal Home Loan Bank examination programs by integrating examination resources and standards,” said Acting Director DeMarco. “This integration and realignment of our supervision and examination resources, including the establishment of specialized risk teams for examinations of the enterprises and the FHLBanks, and the creation of a dedicated housing mission and policy team will place the agency in a better position to monitor safety and soundness at each regulated entity and to provide critical support to the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Congress, and the Administration on matters involving the country’s housing finance system.”
The new structure is designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations agencywide and assure a clear alignment of the agency’s supervisory and housing mission and policy responsibilities. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) requires the FHFA to have two statutorily-designated supervision positions—the Deputy Director of the Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulation and the Deputy Director of the Division of Enterprise Regulation. HERA also requires that FHFA have a Deputy Director for Housing Mission and Goals.
FHFA Acting Director DeMarco announced the following regarding FHFA’s examination offices:
►Stephen Cross, Acting Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of the Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulation (DBR), will continue to serve in his current capacity in the new structure. DBR will comprise two offices: the Office of Examinations and the Office of Regulatory and Program Support, which will continue to be led by Senior Associate Directors Jim Carley and Tony Cornyn, respectively.
►Wanda DeLeo, currently Acting Deputy Director of the Division of Housing Mission and
Goals and Chief Accountant, will become Deputy Director for the newly created Division of
Examination Programs and Support (DEPS). This cross-functional supervisory division will
comprise three offices: Examination Policy and Programs, Office of the Chief Accountant and the Office of Examination Support.
►Kari Walter, currently Senior Associate Director for Examination Policy in DBR, will
be the Senior Associate Director for Examination Policy and Programs. In that role, Walter will be responsible for integrating examination standards for the
Enterprises and the FHLBanks, establishing an examiner development program,
and organizing the management and control of data reported to the agency by the
Enterprises and FHLBanks.
►Nick Satriano, currently Deputy Chief Accountant, will become Chief Accountant. In that role, Satriano will be responsible for developing and monitoring safety and soundness guidance and policies related to accounting and financial reporting and disclosure at FHFA’s regulated entities.
►The Office of Examination Support will house four specialty risk teams (credit, market, and operational risk and risk modeling). These examination teams will participate in examinations of the Enterprises and the FHLBanks. Recruitment for a Senior Associate Director for this office will begin soon.
►Recruitment is underway for a new Deputy Director for Enterprise Regulation (DER) as well as Examiners-In-Charge for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Executives who fill these positions will be responsible for leading FHFA’s examination program involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
►While serving as FHFA’s Acting Director, DeMarco remains the Deputy Director for Housing Mission and Goals (DHMG), his position before being named Acting Director. An Assistant Deputy Director will soon be recruited to manage DHMG on a daily basis. The division will be responsible for all housing mission, policy, analytic, regulatory, legislative, and research activities for the agency. The revamped DHMG will comprise four offices: Housing and Regulatory Policy; Financial Analysis and Modeling; Systemic Risk and Market Surveillance; and Policy Analysis and Research.
►Meg Burns, currently Senior Associate Director for Congressional Affairs and
Communications, will become the Senior Associate Director for the new Office of Housing
and Regulatory Policy. The office will be responsible for policy and regulatory initiatives
involving single-family and multifamily finance, credit loss mitigation strategies, housing
markets, and the housing mission responsibilities of the Enterprises and FHLBanks.
►Naa Awaa Tagoe, currently Associate Director in the Office of Financial Analysis, will become Senior Associate Director for the new Office of Financial Analysis and Modeling. This unit will be responsible for managing internal and public financial data reporting, including the Conservator’s Report and the Federal Property Manager’s Report. The unit will also be responsible for economic modeling projects and associated research.
►Chris Dickerson, currently the Deputy Director of the Division of Enterprise Regulation, will become the Senior Associate Director for the new Office of Systemic Risk and Market Surveillance. The office’s mission will be to monitor and assess emerging financial market and systemic risks that may affect FHFA’s regulated entities and to support the FHFA Director as a member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). In this capacity, Dickerson will work closely with counterparts at other federal financial regulatory agencies and with the Systemic Risk Committee of the FSOC.
►Patrick Lawler will remain Chief Economist and will continue to lead the Office of Policy Analysis and Research, which analyzes trends and issues affecting the regulated entities on a range of housing finance and financial market issues. This office is also responsible for many policy and economic analyses associated with Dodd-Frank rulemaking and reports, the FSOC, and the Financial Stability Oversight Board.
►A new Supervision Committee will coordinate, approve and monitor implementation of FHFA’s annual examination programs and mission oversight. It will be comprised of the agency’s four deputy directors. FHFA is also enhancing its quality assurance programs for the Enterprise and FHLBank examination functions by establishing an integrated Office of Quality Assurance that will report to the Supervision Committee. This office will be led by an Associate Director, Lou Scalza, and will provide independent, internal review of the supervision offices’ activities to ensure compliance with FHFA’s examination standards and work plans.
►Implementing a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, DeMarco has selected Lee Bowman to be the Associate Director of FHFA’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Bowman will be joining FHFA from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) where he is the National Coordinator for Community Affairs. In this new position, Bowman will oversee FHFA activities relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities of FHFA, the Enterprises, and the FHLBanks. Bowman will report to the FHFA Director.
Implementing a HERA requirement, DeMarco also announced that Mike Powers will become FHFA’s Ombudsman. Mr. Powers, currently a Portfolio Manager in the Division of Bank Regulation, is a veteran financial institution regulator and banker. The Ombudsman’s responsibility is to consider complaints and appeals from the FHFA’s regulated entities and from any organization, business entity, or individual that has a business relationship with a regulated entity. A final regulation establishing the Office of the Ombudsman will be forthcoming shortly. Powers will report to the FHFA Director.
In the coming months, FHFA will be filling other senior-level and staff positions in these
various offices. In particular, the agency will be recruiting commissioned examiners as well as policy analysts, financial analysts, accountants, and economists familiar with housing finance, financial market regulation, and legislative and regulatory activities.
For more information, visit www.fhfa.gov.
