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60 | Th e M Rep o RT O r i g i nat i O n s e r v i c i n g a na ly t i c s s e c O n da r y m a r k e t SECONDARY MARKET LocaL edition FHFa Proposes revisions to Federal Home loan Bank requirements The agency aims To ensure members are commiTTed To iTs mission. WASHINGTON, D.C. // The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) proposed a rule in September that would amend fi- nancial institutions' requirements for application and membership retention with one of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. According to FHFA, the rule revision is intended to ensure members stay committed to housing finance and only those eligible have access to membership benefits and advances from the na- tion's Federal Home Loan Banks. One of the proposed revisions to the rule requires members to hold one percent of their assets in home mortgage loans (HML) on an ongoing basis. The current rule requires members to dem- onstrate this only at the time of their application and not at any time afterward. Another change would require members to adhere to the 10-per- cent residential mortgage loan (RML) requirement on an ongo- ing basis. Similar to the HML rule in place, the 10-percent RML rule currently affects members only at their time of application. The proposed amendments also include changing the defini- tion of "insurance company" to include only those companies that offer insurance underwrit- ing for nonaffiliated parties as their primary business. This would, in effect, keep captive insurers from becoming members and prevent entities not eligible for membership from using a captive insurer to gain access to advances from one of the Federal Home Loan Banks. Freddie mac's Portfolio Picks Up For The FirsT Time in 2014, The morTgage gianT's porT- Folio expands. VIRGINIA // Boosted by an increase in secondary market purchases and a decline in sales, Freddie Mac's portfolio grew for the first time this year in July. The mortgage giant reported 0.1 percent annualized growth in its total mortgage portfolio— a turnaround after six straight months of declines. For the January-to-July period, Freddie Mac's annualized portfolio growth rate was -1.7 percent. As of July 31, the portfolio's value was just under $1.9 trillion. Purchases and issuances to- taled $25.4 billion throughout the month of July, up from June's $24.6 billion. July's increase was the second in as many months. Activity was weak, however, compared to July 2013's $42.3 bil- lion in purchases and issuances. Freddie's single-family refi- nance-loan purchase and guar- antee volume was $9.2 billion in July, representing about 40 per- cent of total new single-family mortgage portfolio activity. Relief refinance mortgages accounted for 20 percent of the company's single-family refi volume based on unpaid principal balance. The GSE reported 6,727 loan modifications in the month of July, ratcheting the year-to-date total up to 41,982. goldman sachs, FHFa settle rmBs suit agreemenT closes The book on anoTher in FhFa's long lisT oF lawsuiTs. NEW YORK // New York- based investment banking firm Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $3.15 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) alleging Goldman Sachs sold faulty residential mortgage- backed securities (RMBS) to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to FHFA, under the terms of the settlement, Goldman Sachs will pay $2.15 billion to Freddie Mac and about $1 billion to Fannie Mae to buy back alleged faulty RMBS the