Home loan bank CEO optimistic - Business First of Louisville:

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But Dorfman, who became president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta onJune 20, says he's optimistixc about the residential market and the bank's long-term The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta last year issue $144 billion to 1,200 member banks in seven Southeaster states. A federally charteredd bank for banks, it provides short-term cash to financial institutions makinyhome loans. Dorfman, a native New Yorkerf and 30-year veteran of mortgage finances businesses atand , said he objectse to lenders and investors currently trying to avoid makinf bad loans above all else. "Idf you're in the risk-avoidance you'll have no business," he said.
From his new vantagse point, Dorfman said, he sees an opportunity in the mortgage market for the local home loan bank to continue to thrive, and provide cash to bankw looking to make home loans. "We see the currentt difficulties in the market as an opportunity to serve our our investors andthe region," Dorfman He said the in his view, improperly reacted to receny news of rising foreclosures, home loan defaulty worries, and an increasing anxietgy about an ailing mortgage industry plaguinv the broader economy.
"The market s have shown extreme volatility, with an inabilithy or unwillingness to distinguish gradesof quality," he "It's had massive amounts of cash pulled out, with littlr put back in." In its latest quarterlg report, FHLBank Atlanta noted that its members had additionaol cash needs during the second quarter, causing a dip in the bank's overall Despite the turmoil nationally and internationally duringy the past few weeks, he said business is beginninfg to return to normal for the bank's memberds and investors. "It's a roug time, but we're seeing signs in the marker of a more normal flow of Dorfman said.
Long-term, Dorfman said, he views his job as managintg the existing organizationin place, rather than trying to institutse wholesale changes. FHLBank Atlanta is regarded as the most innovativr homeloan bank, said Dan Immergluck, a Georgias Tech associate professor of city and regional planning. "The have a national reputation for pushingfthe envelope," he said. "Not from a risk or soundnesws standpoint. They're about innovation." The biggestf change under Dorfman's brief tenure, so far, has been the appointment of Steven Goldstein asFHLBank Atlanta's chief financialk officer.
Dorfman has big shoes to replacingthe bank's former high-profile CEO, Raymond Christman, who retired in Christman led the bank since 1999, duringv which time he triplede its size from $50 billion to $144 billion in and boosted the bank's payments to affordablse housing projects. Industry observers noteed the Federal Home Loan Banks are playingf an increasingly important role in keeping the mortgage industrhy from grinding to a halt as investors pull back from buyingb mortgages packagedas securities. "Today's headlines are underlying theitr importance," said Dave Ledford, staff vice president of housinf finance at the National Association ofHome Builders.
FHLBank Atlanta is one of 12 Federa Home LoanBanks nationwide. Federally created, like Fannie Mae and Freddiw Mac, the home loan banks were established during the Depressionh to keep cash flowing to banks and othetrfinancial institutions, like credir unions, looking to make