Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin told the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) conference in New York recently that Treasury will not propose housing finance reform measures until 2011, and will probably do so in conjunction with the agency’s enforcement of the new financial reform law just passed by the Senate and due to be signed by President Obama next week.
However, several conference attendees question whether Treasury can implement housing finance reform at the same time it is implementing the most sweeping changes to the country’s finance system since the 1930s.
Both sides of the political aisle endorse the need for reform, especially for crippled lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but no one has yet developed a workable plan that would not inflict more harm on the still-sagging housing market.
Congress continues to be leery of implementing big changes that could upset the economic recovery since Freddie, Fannie and the FHA provide the majority of funding for American homebuyers.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin’s keynote address to the SIFMA conference can be read here.
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