FHLBNY Set to Meet FHFB Proposed Excess
Stock Restrictions and Retained Earnings Requirements
Contact: Eric Amig - 212 441-6807 |
March 23, 2006 |
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is on course to meet the proposed regulation intended to strengthen the capital structure of the FHLBanks approved by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) on March 8, 2006. The proposed regulation would limit the excess stock a FHLBank may hold to 1% of total assets and would set a retained earnings requirement at $50 million plus 1% of a FHLBanks average balance of non-advance assets. In addition, the proposed rule would prohibit the payment of stock dividends. Applying the proposed regulation to the (FHLBNY or Bank), the Bank believes these proposed requirements would be met. Accordingly, the Bank anticipates that, should the proposed regulation be adopted, there would be no substantial effects on the FHLBNY's financial management or business operations or that of our members.
More specifically, with respect to the component of the proposed rule that would limit excess stock to no greater than 1% of total assets for the FHLBNY, this provision would have no impact upon operations. For some time, the FHLBNY has redeemed all excess stock on a daily basis and currently meets this component of the proposed rule. Regarding the related prohibition of paying a dividend in the form of stock, the FHLBNY has never paid a stock dividend and the prohibition has no impact on the Bank or our members.
Pertaining to part of the proposal that sets the minimum retained earnings at $50 million plus 1% of non-advance assets, at December 31, 2005, the FHLBNY held (after the January 2006 dividend) $245 million in retained earnings. Using the average non-advance assets for the fourth quarter of 2005, we estimate the current retained earnings requirement under the proposed regulation to be in excess of $260 million. Therefore, it is highly probable that the FHLBNY would meet this component of the proposed retained earnings requirement by the time the proposed regulation is likely to become effective.
The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on March 15, 2006. Public comments are due to the FHFB on July 13, 2006. The FHLBNY is currently drafting comments. The proposed rule can be found on our website at www.fhlbny.com.
The FHLBNY is an $83 billion, Congressionally chartered, wholesale bank. It is part of the FHLBank System, a national wholesale banking network of 12 regional, stockholder-owned banks. The FHLBNY serves 300 community lenders in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. These statements may use forward-looking terms, such as "projected," "expects," "may," or their negatives or other variations on these terms. The Bank cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk or uncertainty and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements or could affect the extent to which a particular objective, projection, estimate, or prediction is realized. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, regulatory and accounting rule adjustments or requirements, changes in interest rates, changes in projected business volumes, changes in prepayment speeds on mortgage assets, the cost of our funding, changes in our membership profile, the withdrawal of one or more large members, competitive pressures, shifts in demand for our products, and general economic conditions. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.
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