CREFC Continues Productive Engagement with Regulators
September 23, 2025
CREFC continues its productive engagement with regulators and policymakers on issues most significant to our members. Through ongoing dialogue, we seek to ensure that member perspectives are represented in the policymaking process and that regulatory outcomes support a healthy, functioning CRE finance market.
Treasury: On September 18, key real estate trade groups, including CREFC’s President & CEO Lisa Pendergast, met with Treasury officials to discuss multifamily issues related to GSE reform.
- This roundtable was one of several hosted by the Treasury Department on this issue. CREFC CEO Pendergast also attended a high-level discussion on September 8, as covered in CREFC’s September 16 Policy & Capital Markets Briefing.
SEC Discussions on SEC Rule 17g-5 and 17g-7: CREFC also met with leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Credit Ratings (OCR) on September 18. The discussion covered CREFC members’ concerns with SEC Rule 17g-5 and Rule 17g-7.
Rule 17g-5. To address perceived rating agency conflicts of interest, Rule 17g-5 requires issuers, underwriters, and sponsors to maintain a website at issuance and on a post-securitization basis.
- Any information provided to one hired rating agency is made available to any other hired agency. Under certain conditions, it is also available to non-hired agencies to encourage unsolicited ratings.
- However, the industry is unaware of any unsolicited ratings since the promulgation of this rule 15 years ago.
- Additionally, the requirement has unnecessarily impeded information flow and added expense to transaction parties.
Rule 17g-7. The rule aims to enhance transparency and investor protection by requiring rating agencies to provide information about the legal protections available to investors.
- One of the requirements is that rating agencies include in any report accompanying an ABS credit rating a description of (a) the representations, warranties, and enforcement mechanisms available to investors, and (b) how they differ from similar issuances.
- However, these reports do not impact the quality of reps, warranties, and enforcement provisions and is not used widely by investors.
FHFA: CREFC’s latest quarterly meeting with the multifamily policy team at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was once again a productive discussion.
- CREFC shared updated data on the multifamily mortgage markets and the commercial/multifamily structured finance markets. You can view the slides shared with the FHFA here.
- Key policy issues were also covered, including the insurance markets and concerns relating to housing affordability.