Farmer Mac: Revised Charter Enhances Secondary Market Activity, but Growth Depends on Various Factors
GGD-99-85
Published: May 21, 1999. Publicly Released: Jun 09, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the progress that the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) has made in achieving its statutory mission and examined its future viability, focusing on: (1) actions taken by Farmer Mac to promote the development of a secondary market, including the introduction of new programs and products; the standardization of loan processes, including loan documents and underwriting standards; and the use of risk management techniques to facilitate safe and sound secondary market activities; and (2) Farmer Mac's future viability and the potential benefits and costs of a government-sponsored secondary market for agricultural mortgages.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Farmer Mac, FCS, and FHLBanks now offer programs that compete directly and indirectly with one another. Therefore, the public benefits and costs of these three GSEs are interrelated. Congressional committees with jurisdiction may want to consider interactions among the activities and the charters of these three GSEs as part of their ongoing oversight. |
Closed – Implemented
|
On February 26, 2001, the Senate Agriculture committee held a hearing at which the competitive convergence between the FLBank System and the Farm Credit System were discussed. |
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Topics
Farm creditGovernment guaranteed loansGovernment sponsored enterprisesMortgage loansMortgage programsMortgage-backed securitiesProgram managementRedundancyRisk managementSecondary markets