Seattle FHLB Likely Short of Capital on Mortgage Debt

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle joined its San Francisco counterpart in suspending dividends and “excess” stock repurchases, after the declining value of mortgage bonds likely led to a regulatory capital shortfall.

The shortfall is being caused by “unrealized market value losses” on home-loan securities without government backing, the Seattle bank cooperative said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.

The Federal Home Loan Banks, or FHLBs, face potentially “substantial” losses, and in a worst-case scenario only four of the 12 would remain above capital minimums, Moody’s Investors Service said last week.