In what surely was a coincidence, FHFA’s final rule on GSE board governance came out on Friday just as its Inspector General slammed the regulator for undue deference to the GSEs and the GSEs for similar kowtowing to senior management. The OIG was far more impressed with FHFA’s oversight of the Home Loan Banks, and the fact that only the FHLBs had strategic-mission governance standards might well have had something to do with it. Now that similar rules apply to Fannie and Freddie, governance practices may well change. But then, so too might the overall structure of the GSEs before a new FHFA chief gets to reading the latest rule finalized by its current director.
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