Law Commons^™

Coming Out Of Conservatorship: Developing An Exit Strategy For Fannie And Freddie, David J. Reiss

David J Reiss

This brief article reviews the various policies that the Obama Administration can choose from as it considers how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should exit conservatorship. It first reviews the benefits and costs associated with the two companies. It then reviews four broad positions regarding the appropriate role of Fannie and Freddie in the housing finance market. It argues that the two companies should be privatized because Fannie and Freddie pose a systemic risk to the financial system, unfairly benefit from their regulatory privilege and do not create net benefits for the American people. Finally, it reviews four concrete plans …

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac And The Future Of Federal Housing Finance Policy: A Study Of Regulatory Privilege, David J. Reiss

David J Reiss

The federal government recently placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered, privately owned mortgage finance companies, in conservatorship. These two massive companies are profit-driven, but as government-sponsored enterprises they also have a government-mandated mission to provide liquidity and stability to the United States mortgage market and to achieve certain affordable housing goals. How the two companies should exit their conservatorship has implications that reach throughout the global financial markets and are of key importance to the future of American housing finance policy.

While the American taxpayer will be required to fund a bailout of the two companies that will …

Rating Agencies And Reputational Risk, David J. Reiss

David J Reiss

This essay is a lightly-edited version of a talk given at the University of Maryland School of Law and the Journal of Business & Technology Law's Conference on the Subprime Meltdown in October 2008. It briefly reviews the reputational risk literature and applies it to the rating agency industry. In particular, it looks at three of the inputs into reputation - trust, transparency, and leadership - and evaluates how rating agencies fared in the period leading up to the subprime meltdown. It concludes that rating agencies did poorly when it came to all three of these reputational inputs.

Ratings Failure: The Need For A Consumer Protection Agenda In Rating Agency Regulation, David J. Reiss

David J Reiss

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Duopoly In The American Housing Market, David J. Reiss

David J Reiss

No abstract provided.