Treasury Secretary to Testify on GSE Regulation

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary John Snow is scheduled to testify Sept. 4 in front of the House Financial Services Committee on the regulatory structure of the housing government sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Committee members are expected will ask Snow to comment on suggestions that regulation of the GSEs be moved to the Treasury. In related news, the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises has scheduled a hearing for July 16 on H.R. 2575, the Secondary Mortgage Market Enterprises Regulatory Improvement Act. Introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), the bill would among other things, abolish the Office of Federal Housing Examination Oversight (OFHEO), which currently regulates the GSEs; change the name of the Office of Thrift Supervision to Office of Housing Supervision; and transfer authority to regulate the GSEs to the Office of Housing Finance Supervision.