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Stress Tests Reports - Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

2019 Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test Results - Severely Adverse Scenario

Published: 8/15/2019

​​​​​​Revised 8/2/2023

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​​​Overview 

  • Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “Enterprises”) are required to conduct annual stress tests pursuant to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rule 12 CFR § 1238, which implements section 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"). Section 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Act requires certain financial companies that have total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion and are regulated by a primary federal financial regulatory agency to conduct annual stress tests to determine whether the companies have the capital necessary to absorb losses as a result of adverse economic conditions. This is the sixth implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act Stress Tests (DFAST) for the Enterprises.

  • In September 2008, FHFA suspended capital requirements after placing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorships. The Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements that were established between the Department of the Treasury and each Enterprise limit the amount of capital that each Enterprise can hold to a Capital Reserve Amount. Currently the Capital Reserve Amount is $3 billion.

  • Notwithstanding the capital limits stipulated in the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, FHFA requires the Enterprises to conduct DFAST annually in order to provide insight into risk exposure and potential sources of losses in the prescribed conditions. This report provides updated information on possible ranges of future financial results of the Enterprises under
    severely adverse conditions. The severely adverse conditions assumed are identical for both Enterprises.

  • The projections reported here are not expected outcomes. They are modeled projections in response to “what if” exercises based on assumptions about Enterprise operations, loan performance, macroeconomic and financial market conditions, and house prices. The projections do not define the full range of possible outcomes. Actual outcomes may be different.

  • The 2019 DFAST Severely Adverse scenario is described on page 3. The Enterprises used their  respective internal models to project their financial results based on the assumptions provided by ​FHFA. While this results in a degree of comparability between the Enterprises, it does not eliminate differences in the Enterprises’ respective internal models, accounting differences, or management actions.

August 2023 Update:

In November 2022, Fannie Mae announced that it was reevaluating its 2019 stress test results and associated reporting due to the recent identification of errors in an underlying model. Fannie Mae has completed its evaluation and determined that the errors were not material and therefore will not post revised stress test results for this year.


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