The Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) have been part of the financial landscape in this country since 1932. They were created (before the New Deal) in response to the housing crisis during the Great Depression. But their role has changed from a focus on housing to becoming a liquidity provider for large banks. And this has had a major impact on our financial system, including the fintech space.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Cornelius (Con) Hurley. He is a professor at the Boston University School of Law and was a founding member of the Online Lending Policy Institute that was folded into the American Fintech Council in 2021. Most importantly for this conversation, Professor Hurley was an independent director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston for 14 years. He has become an outspoken critic of FHLBs in recent years and is a co-founder of the Coalition for FHLB Reform.

Professor Hurley provides a detailed history and the current state of play for FHLBs but also focuses on the role fintech companies can play here.

In this podcast you will learn:

Why everyone should be interested in what Federal Home Loan Banks are doing.
The origins of the Federal Home Loan Banks and why they were started.
How the FHLBs are regulated.
How the FHLBs can claim they have never made a loan that has defaulted.
The governance culture of the FHLBs.
Why FHLB loans to banks should be made public.
How the mission of the FHLBs moved away from housing and community development.
Why banks go to an FHLB for liquidity instead of the Federal Reserve.
How the FHLBs are funded and what subsidies they receive.
The recommendations for reform from the recent FHLB report.
Why FHLB members will need to beef up their mortgage exposure.
The potential role for fintech companies here.
What comes next for FHLBs.

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Cornelius Hurley of Boston University School of Law

Fintech One-On-One