Ratio changes to 53 Percent Fannie Mae and 47 Percent Freddie Mac
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced the deemed-issuance ratio for the 2023 calendar year in accordance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines on the trading of the Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS). The deemed-issuance-ratio will be used for diversification reporting on the bonds ultimately delivered to the purchaser until the bonds have been disposed of, regardless of the issuing Enterprise on the underlying bonds.
The IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-54 provides that the ratio may be rounded as long as the rounded ratio is further from 50/50 than the actual observed data. Therefore, the deemed-issuance ratio for the 2023 calendar year is 53 percent Fannie Mae and 47 percent Freddie Mac.
| | TBA-eligible securities issued November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2022 (billions) | Deemed-Issuance Ratio (percent) |
| Fannie Mae | $2,171.306 | 53 |
| Freddie Mac | $1,939.425 | 47 |
| Total | $4,110.731 | 100 |
The IRS procedure provides guidance on section 817(h) of the Internal Revenue Code diversification requirements for variable annuity, endowment, and life insurance contracts. The IRS has provided a deemed-issuance-ratio to allocate issuer exposure for TBA trades between the Enterprises. Compliance with these requirements is affected by the implementation of and trading in UMBS.
Revenue Procedure 2018-54 calls for FHFA to determine a deemed-issuance ratio for each calendar year based on the ratio of TBA-eligible securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 24-month period ending October 31 of the preceding year.
FHFA announces this ratio annually at least three weeks prior to the affected calendar year.