Resource Items: regulatory legislative and legal

Kenneth A Snowden, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, describes himself as "an economic historian who for the past two decades has studied the development of the U.S. mortgage market."  He testified at the hearing on "Covered Bonds: Potential Uses and Regulatory Issues" held Sept. 15 by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs.

To download a PDF of Snowden's prepared testimony for the hearing (19 pages), click on "20100915 Snowden" under "Attachment" below.

Ric Campo is Chairman and CEO of Camden Property Trust, a publicly held apartment firm.  He is also the immediate past Chairman of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC).  He testified on behalf of the NMHC and its joint legislative partner, the National Apartment Association (NAA) at the hearing on "Covered Bonds: Potential Uses and Regulatory Issues" held Sept. 15 by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs.

Several amendments to H.R. 5823 — the latest version of covered bond legislation in Congress — were added to the bill during the markup session of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) before the HSFC voted to report the bill to the House floor.

• A four-page amendment from Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) provides for a system of joint regulation by a variety of entities instead of oversight by a single regulator.

To download a PDF of the Bean amendment, click on "20100728 bean" under "Attachments," below.

July 22, 2010 saw the introduction of a new version of proposed covered bond legislation — H.R. 5823 — to supersede a previous version (H.R. 4884) with the same title, the "United States Covered Bond Act of 2010."  While similar in many ways to the previous version, H.R. 5823 also presents some significant differences.

To download a PDF (31 pages) of the full text of the new bill, click on "H.R. 5823" under "Attachment," below.