PART 1242—RESOLUTION PLANNING Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4511; 12 U.S.C. 4513; 12 U.S.C. 4513b; 12 U.S.C. 4514; 12 U.S.C. 4517; 12 U.S.C. 4526; and 12 U.S.C. 4617. Source: 86 FR 23587, May 4, 2021, unless otherwise noted. § 1242.1 Purpose; identification as a prudential standard. (a) Purpose. (1) Minimizes disruption in the national housing finance markets by providing for the continued operation of the core business lines of an Enterprise in receivership by a newly constituted limited-life regulated entity; (2) Preserves the value of an Enterprise's franchise and assets; (3) Facilitates the division of assets and liabilities between the limited-life regulated entity and the receivership estate; (4) Ensures that investors in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Enterprises and in Enterprise unsecured debt bear losses in accordance with the priority of payments established in the Safety and Soundness Act while minimizing unnecessary losses and costs to these investors; and (5) Fosters market discipline by making clear that no extraordinary government support will be available to indemnify investors against losses or fund the resolution of an Enterprise. (b) Identification as a prudential standard; effect of identification. (1) The determination of a deficiency in a resolution plan; or (2) The failure to undertake actions or changes identified by FHFA in the notice provided pursuant to § 1242.7(b)(1), to be a failure to meet a standard for purposes of § 1236.4 of this chapter. In its discretion, FHFA may also deem a revised, resubmitted resolution plan to be a corrective plan for purposes of § 1236.4 of this chapter. § 1242.2 Definitions. Unless otherwise indicated, terms used in this part have the meanings that they have in 12 CFR part 1201 and in the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act (12 U.S.C. 4501 et seq. Core business line Core business line Credible, (1) Demonstrates consideration of required and prohibited assumptions set forth at § 1242.5(b); (2) Provides strategic analysis and detailed information as required by § 1242.5(c) through (g) that is well-founded and based on information and data related to the Enterprise that are observable or otherwise verifiable and employ reasonable projections from current and historical conditions within the broader financial markets; and (3) Plausibly achieves the purposes of § 1242.1(a). Material change (1) The resolvability of the Enterprise; (2) The Enterprise's resolution strategy; or (3) How the Enterprise's resolution plan is implemented. Material changes may include the identification of a new core business line or significant increases or decreases in business, operations, funding, or interconnections. Rapid and orderly resolution § 1242.3 Identification of core business lines. (a) Enterprise preliminary identification; notice to FHFA; timing. (2) Each Enterprise shall establish and implement a process to identify each of its core business lines. The process shall include a methodology for evaluating the Enterprise's participation in activities and markets that may be critical to the stability of the national housing finance markets or carrying out the statutory mission and purpose of the Enterprise. The methodology shall be designed, taking into account the nature, size, complexity, and scope of the Enterprise's operations, to identify and assess: (i) The markets and activities in which the Enterprise participates or has operations; (ii) The significance of those markets and activities with respect to the national housing finance markets or the Enterprise's obligation to carry out its statutory mission and purpose; and (iii) The significance of the Enterprise as a provider or other participant in those markets and activities. (3) Enterprise identification of any business line as a core business line is preliminary and is subject to review by FHFA. Each Enterprise must provide a notice of its preliminary identification of core business lines to FHFA, including a description of its methodology and the basis for identification of each core business line. (4) The board of directors of the Enterprise shall approve each notice of preliminary identification of core business lines before submission to FHFA, with such approval noted in board minutes. (5) Each Enterprise must conduct its initial identification process and submit its initial identification of core business lines to FHFA by the date that is three months after the effective date of the final rule. Thereafter, each Enterprise shall conduct periodic identification processes, determining the timing of each periodic process to ensure that the process for identification, including FHFA review and determination required by paragraph (b) of this section, can be complete in sufficient time for each succeeding required resolution plan to include the information required under § 1242.5 for each core business line. FHFA may also direct an Enterprise as to the timeframe for conducting any subsequent identification process. (6) Each Enterprise must periodically review its identification process and update it as necessary to ensure its continued effectiveness. (b) FHFA identification of core business lines; notice to an Enterprise; timing of inclusion in resolution plan. (2) FHFA may identify any business line of the Enterprise as a core business line, considering factors set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section or any other factor FHFA deems appropriate, following review of an Enterprise notice of preliminary identification or at any other time, on written notice to an Enterprise. (3) If FHFA identifies a core business line under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, an Enterprise is not required to include that core business line in a resolution plan if that plan is due within six months after the Enterprise receives notice of identification from FHFA. (c) Reconsideration of business line identification Reconsideration initiated by an Enterprise. (ii) The board of directors of the Enterprise shall approve each request for reconsideration of identification before submission to FHFA, with such approval noted in board minutes. (iii) FHFA will respond to an Enterprise request for reconsideration within three months after the date on which a complete request is received. (2) Reconsideration initiated by FHFA. (3) FHFA notice of reconsideration. (4) Effect of reconsideration. § 1242.4 Credible resolution plan required; other notices to FHFA. (a) Credible resolution plan required; frequency and timing of plan submission Credible resolution plan required; resolution plan submission dates. (2) Altering submission dates. (3) Interim updates. (b) Notice of extraordinary events; inclusion in next resolution plan. (c) Board of directors' approval of resolution plan. (d) Point of contact. (e) Incorporation of previously submitted resolution plan information by reference. (1) The resolution plan seeking to incorporate information by reference clearly indicates: (i) The information the Enterprise is incorporating by reference; and (ii) Which of the Enterprise's previously submitted resolution plan(s) originally contained the information the Enterprise is incorporating by reference, including the specific location of that information in the previously submitted resolution plan; and (2) The information the Enterprise is incorporating by reference remains accurate in all respects that are material to the Enterprise's resolution plan. (f) Extensions of time. § 1242.5 Informational content of a resolution plan; required and prohibited assumptions. (a) In general. (b) Required and prohibited assumptions when developing a resolution plan. (1) Take into account that receivership of the Enterprise may occur under the severely adverse economic conditions provided to the Enterprise by FHFA in conjunction with any stress testing required or in another scenario provided by FHFA; (2) Not assume the provision or continuation of extraordinary support by the United States to the Enterprise to prevent either its becoming in danger of default or in default (including, in particular, support obtained or negotiated on behalf of the Enterprise by FHFA in its capacity as supervisor, conservator, or receiver of the Enterprise, including the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements entered into by FHFA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 7, 2008 and any amendments thereto); and (3) Reflect statutory provisions that obligations and securities of the Enterprise issued pursuant to its authorizing statute, together with interest thereon, are not guaranteed by the United States and do not constitute a debt or obligation of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof other than the Enterprise. (c) Executive summary. (1) Summary of the key elements of the Enterprise's strategic analysis; (2) A description of each material change experienced by the Enterprise since submission of the Enterprise's prior resolution plan (or affirmation that no such change has occurred); (3) Changes to the Enterprise's previously submitted resolution plan resulting from any: (i) Change in law or regulation; (ii) Guidance or feedback from FHFA; or (iii) Material change described pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section; and (4) Any actions taken by the Enterprise since submitting its prior resolution plan to improve the effectiveness of the resolution plan or remediate or otherwise mitigate any material weaknesses or impediments to a rapid and orderly resolution. (d) Strategic analysis. (1) Include detailed descriptions of— (i) Key assumptions and supporting analysis underlying the resolution plan, including any assumptions made concerning the economic or financial conditions that would be present at the time resolution would occur; (ii) Actions, or ranges of actions, which if taken by the Enterprise could facilitate a rapid and orderly resolution and those actions that the Enterprise intends to take; (iii) The corporate governance framework that supports determination of the specific actions to be taken to facilitate a rapid and orderly resolution as the Enterprise is becoming in danger of default (including identifying the senior management officials responsible for making those determinations and taking those actions); (iv) Funding, liquidity, and capital needs of, and resources and loss absorbing capacity available to, the Enterprise, which shall be mapped to its core business lines, in the ordinary course of business and in the event the Enterprise becomes in danger of default or in default; (v) Considering the Enterprise's core business lines, a strategy for identifying assets and liabilities of the Enterprise to be transferred to a limited-life regulated entity; and for transferring operations of, and funding for, the Enterprise to a limited-life regulated entity, which shall be mapped to core business lines; (vi) A strategy for preventing the failure or discontinuation of each core business line and its associated operations, services, functions, or supports as the core business line is transferred to a limited-life regulated entity, and actions that, in the Enterprise's view, FHFA could take to prevent or mitigate any adverse effects of such failure or discontinuation on the national housing finance markets; (vii) A strategy for mitigating the effect on the Enterprise of another Enterprise becoming in danger of default or in default, on the continuation of each of the Enterprise's core business lines and its associated operations, services, functions, or supports as any assets or operations of the other Enterprise are transferred to the Enterprise; (viii) The extent to which claims against the Enterprise by creditors and counterparties would be satisfied in accordance with § 1237.9 of this chapter and the manner and source of satisfaction of those claims consistent with the continuation of the Enterprise's core business lines by the limited-life regulated entity; and (ix) A strategy for transferring or unwinding qualified financial contracts, as defined at 12 U.S.C. 4617(d)(8)(D)(i), in a manner consistent with 12 U.S.C. 4617(d)(8) through (11); (2) Identify the time period(s) the Enterprise expects would be needed to successfully execute each action identified in paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section to facilitate rapid and orderly resolution, and any impediments to such actions; (3) Identify and describe— (i) Any potential material weaknesses or impediments to rapid and orderly resolution as conceived in the Enterprise's plan; (ii) Any actions or steps the Enterprise has taken or proposes to take, or which other market participants could take, to remediate or otherwise mitigate the weaknesses or impediments identified by the Enterprise; and (iii) A timeline for the remedial or other mitigating action that the Enterprise proposes to take; and (4) Provide a detailed description of the processes the Enterprise employs for— (i) Determining the current market values and marketability of the core business lines and material asset holdings of the Enterprise; (ii) Assessing the feasibility of the Enterprise's plans (including timeframes) for executing any sales, divestitures, restructurings, recapitalizations, or other similar actions contemplated in the Enterprise's resolution plan; and (iii) Assessing the impact of any sales, divestitures, restructurings, recapitalizations, or other similar actions on the value, funding, and operations of the Enterprise and its core business lines. (e) Corporate governance relating to resolution planning. (1) Include a detailed description of— (i) How resolution planning is integrated into the corporate governance structure and processes of the Enterprise; (ii) The process for identifying core business lines, including a description of the Enterprise's methodology considering the requirements of § 1242.3(a); (iii) Enterprise policies, procedures, and internal controls governing preparation and approval of the resolution plan; and (iv) The nature, extent, and frequency of reporting to Enterprise senior executive officers and the board of directors regarding the development, maintenance, and implementation of the Enterprise's resolution plan; (2) Provide the identity and position of the Enterprise senior management official primarily responsible for overseeing the development, maintenance, implementation, and submission of the Enterprise's resolution plan and for the Enterprise's compliance with this part; (3) Describe the nature, extent, and results of any contingency planning or similar exercise conducted by the Enterprise since the date of the Enterprise's most recently submitted resolution plan to assess the viability of or improve the resolution plan of the Enterprise; and (4) Identify and describe the relevant risk measures used by the Enterprise to report credit risk exposures both internally to its senior management and board of directors, as well as any relevant risk measures reported externally to investors or to FHFA. (f) Organizational structure, interconnections, and related information. (1) Provide a detailed description of the Enterprise's organizational structure, including— (i) A list of all affiliates and trusts within the Enterprise's organization that identifies for each affiliate and trust (legal entity), the following information (provided that, where such information would be identical across multiple legal entities, it may be presented in relation to a group of identified legal entities): (A) The percentage of voting and nonvoting equity of each legal entity listed; and (B) The location, jurisdiction of incorporation, licensing, and key management associated with each material legal entity identified; (ii) A mapping of the Enterprise's operations, services, functions, and supports associated with each of its core business lines, identifying— (A) The entity, including any third-party providers, responsible for conducting each associated operation or service that supports the functioning of each core business line as well as the Enterprise's material asset holdings; and (B) Liabilities related to such operations, services, and core business lines; (2) Provide an unconsolidated balance sheet for the Enterprise and a consolidating schedule for all securitization trusts consolidated by the Enterprise; (3) Provide a schedule showing all assets and liabilities of unconsolidated Enterprise securitization trusts; (4) Include a description of the material components of the liabilities of the Enterprise and each identified core business line that, at a minimum, separately identifies types and amounts of the short-term and long-term liabilities, secured and unsecured liabilities, and subordinated liabilities; (5) Identify and describe the processes used by the Enterprise to— (i) Determine to whom the Enterprise has pledged collateral; (ii) Identify the person or entity that holds such collateral; and (iii) Identify the jurisdiction in which the collateral is located, and, if different, the jurisdiction in which the security interest in the collateral is enforceable against the Enterprise; (6) Describe any material off-balance sheet exposures (including guarantees and contractual obligations) of the Enterprise, including a mapping to each of its core business lines; (7) Describe the practices of the Enterprise and its core business lines related to the booking of trading and derivatives activities; (8) Identify material hedges of the Enterprise and its core business lines related to trading and derivative activities, including a mapping to legal entity; (9) Describe the hedging strategies of the Enterprise; (10) Describe the process undertaken by the Enterprise to establish exposure limits; (11) Identify the third-party providers with which the Enterprise has significant business connections (including third parties performing or providing operations, services, functions, or supports associated with each core business line) and describe the business connections, dependencies and relationships with such third party; (12) Report on the counterparty credit risk exposure to— (i) The 20 largest single-family mortgage sellers and the 20 largest single-family mortgage servicers to the Enterprise (where “largest” is determined as of the end of the quarter preceding submission of a resolution plan, and the Enterprise includes an entity that is among the largest in both categories in each separate report category); and (ii) All multifamily sellers and servicers to the Enterprise, based on purchasing volume during the preceding year. (13) Report on insurance in force, risk in force, and exposure and potential future exposure related to all providers of loan-level mortgage insurance; (14) Analyze whether the failure of a third-party provider to an Enterprise would likely have an adverse impact on an Enterprise or result in the Enterprise becoming in danger of default or in default, the availability of alternative providers, and the ability of the Enterprise to change providers when necessary; and (15) Identify each trading, payment, clearing, or settlement system of which the Enterprise, directly or indirectly, is a member and on which the Enterprise conducts a material number or value amount of trades or transactions, and map membership in each such system to the Enterprise and its core business lines. (g) Management information systems. (i) A detailed inventory and description of the key management information systems and applications, including systems and applications for risk management, automated underwriting, valuation, accounting, and financial and regulatory reporting, used by the Enterprise, and systems and applications containing records used to manage all qualified financial contracts. The description of each system or application provided shall identify the legal owner or licensor, the use or function of the system or application, service level agreements related thereto, any software and system licenses, and any intellectual property associated therewith; (ii) A mapping of the key management information systems and applications to core business lines of the Enterprise that use or rely on such systems and applications; (iii) An identification of the scope, content, and frequency of the key internal reports that senior management of the Enterprise and core business lines use to monitor the financial health, risks, and operation of the Enterprise and core business lines; (iv) A description of the process for FHFA to access the management information systems and applications identified in this paragraph (g); and (v) A description and analysis of— (A) The capabilities of the Enterprise's management information systems to collect, maintain, and report, in a timely manner to management of the Enterprise and to FHFA, the information and data underlying the resolution plan; and (B) Any gaps or weaknesses in such capabilities, and a description of the actions the Enterprise intends to take to promptly address such gaps, or weaknesses, and the timeframe for implementing such actions. (h) Identification of point of contact. § 1242.6 Form of resolution plan; confidentiality. (a) Form of resolution plan Generally. (2) Content of public section. (i) A description of each core business line, including associated operations and services; (ii) Consolidated or segment financial information regarding assets, liabilities, capital and major funding sources; (iii) A description of derivative activities, hedging activities, and credit risk transfer instruments; (iv) A list of memberships in material payment, clearing and settlement systems; (v) The identities of the principal officers; (vi) A description of the corporate governance structure and processes related to resolution planning; (vii) A description of material management information systems; and (viii) A description, at a high level, of strategies to facilitate resolution, covering such items as the range of potential purchasers of the Enterprise's core business lines and other significant assets, as well as measures that, if taken by the Enterprise, could minimize the risk that its resolution would have serious adverse effects on the national housing finance markets and minimize the amount of potential loss to the Enterprise's investors and creditors. (b) Confidential treatment of resolution plan. (2) An Enterprise submitting a resolution plan or related materials pursuant to this part that desires confidential treatment of the information under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), 12 CFR part 1202 (Freedom of Information Act), and 12 CFR part 1214 (availability of non-public information) may file a request for confidential treatment in accordance with those rules. (3) To the extent permitted by law, information comprising the confidential section of a resolution plan will be treated as confidential. (4) To the extent permitted by law, the submission of any nonpublic data or information under this part shall not constitute a waiver of, or otherwise affect, any privilege arising under Federal or state law (including the rules of any Federal or state court) to which the data or information is otherwise subject. The submission of any nonpublic data or information under this part shall be subject to the examination privilege. § 1242.7 Review of resolution plans; resubmission of deficient resolution plans. (a) FHFA acceptance of resolution plan; review for completeness. (2) If FHFA determines that a resolution plan is incomplete or that substantial additional information is necessary to facilitate review of the resolution plan: (i) FHFA shall provide notice to the Enterprise in writing of the area(s) in which the resolution plan is incomplete or with respect to which additional information is required; and (ii) Within 30 days after receiving such notice (or such other time period as FHFA may establish in the notice), the Enterprise shall resubmit a complete resolution plan or such additional information as requested to facilitate review of the resolution plan. (b) FHFA review of complete plan; determination regarding deficient resolution plan. (i) Identifies any deficiencies or shortcomings in the Enterprise's resolution plan (or confirms that no deficiencies or shortcomings were identified); (ii) Identifies any planned actions or changes set forth by the Enterprise that FHFA agrees could facilitate a rapid and orderly resolution of the Enterprise; and (iii) Provides any other feedback on the resolution plan (including feedback on timing of actions or changes to be undertaken by the Enterprise). FHFA will send the notification no later than 12 months after accepting a complete plan, unless FHFA determines in its discretion that extenuating circumstances exist that require delay. (2) For purposes of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a “deficiency” is an aspect of an Enterprise's resolution plan that FHFA determines presents a weakness that, individually or in conjunction with other aspects, could undermine the feasibility of the Enterprise's resolution plan. A “shortcoming” is a weakness or gap that raises questions about the feasibility of an Enterprise's resolution plan, but does not rise to the level of a deficiency. If a shortcoming is not satisfactorily explained or addressed before or in the submission of the Enterprise's next resolution plan, it may be found to be a deficiency in the Enterprise's next resolution plan. FHFA may identify an aspect of an Enterprise's resolution plan as a deficiency even if such aspect was not identified as a shortcoming in an earlier resolution plan submission. (c) Resubmission of a resolution plan. (1) Revisions to the plan made by the Enterprise to address the identified deficiencies; (2) Any changes to the Enterprise's business operations and corporate structure that the Enterprise proposes to undertake to address a deficiency (including a timeline for completing such changes); and (3) Why the Enterprise believes that the revised resolution plan is feasible and would facilitate a rapid and orderly resolution by FHFA as receiver. § 1242.8 No limiting effect or private right of action. (a) No limiting effect on resolution proceedings. (b) No private right of action.