Elizabeth A Duke: Opening remarks at the public hearing on potential
revisions to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
Opening remarks by Ms Elizabeth A Duke, Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, at the public hearing on potential revisions to the Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act, Atlanta, 15 July 2010.
* * *
On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, I'd like to welcome the
participants to today's hearing. I'd also like to express my appreciation to President Lockhart
and our colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for hosting us today.
I am pleased to be here at the first in a series of public hearings regarding changes to the
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The Board has scheduled these hearings to assess
the adequacy of the current mortgage data requirements and examine the need to collect
additional data from lenders.
I would point out that since we began planning these hearings, changes to the HMDA data
requirements have been included in the regulatory reform bill currently being considered by
the Congress. We look forward to hearing your comments regarding the implementation of
the changes specified in that legislation, as well as changes you might recommend based on
your experience.
The proposed legislation also would transfer authority for HMDA rulemaking from the Board
of Governors to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). All information
gleaned from these hearings will inform our rulewriting work. When rulemaking authority
transfers to the CFPB, be assured that we will hand over the most current thinking about
changes to Regulation C.
Over the course of four public hearings, held throughout the country, we will hear from key
players in the home mortgage market: lenders and other market participants, academics and
researchers, consumer advocacy and community development organizations, data experts,
regulators, and other public officials. Although they play different roles, all share a common
goal: to ensure that the mortgage market is responsible, transparent, efficient, and serves the
needs of consumers and market participants alike.
Clearly, the recent mortgage crisis has highlighted the potential ramifications of a mortgage
market that is not functioning well. Data do not create the market, but they do help us
understand what is happening in the market. HMDA data cannot solve all market problems,
but the time is ripe for reviewing and revising the data elements, standards, and reporting
formats. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now answer the question: Do policymakers
have adequate and reliable data sufficient to assess market conditions and craft policy
responses?
HMDA has three purposes. One purpose is to provide the public and government officials
with data that will help show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of the
neighborhoods and communities in which they are located. A second is to help government
officials target public investment to promote private investment where it is needed. A third
purpose is to provide data to assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and
facilitate the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity
Act.
Today's hearing is intended to serve as a venue to: discuss whether or not the 2002
revisions to Regulation C provided useful and accurate information about the mortgage
market; gather information that will help assess the need for additional data elements or
improvements; and identify emerging issues in the mortgage market that may require
additional research. As I said earlier, we are also interested in any comments on the
implementation of the HMDA elements of the regulatory reform legislation.
We have gathered this morning an impressive array of panelists representing a spectrum of
vantage points. We look forward to the comments of our panelists today and at the upcoming
hearings in San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington. This input, together with written
comments submitted from the public, will be carefully considered as we consider changes to
Regulation C.