WASHINGTON, July 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Federal Home Loan Banks deliver sustainable and measurable economic benefits to thousands of communities across the country and are a “congressional success story,” according to the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks.
In prepared testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, Ryan Donovan, President and CEO of the Council of FHLBanks, stated that the FHLBanks provide their members – including commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions – with a reliable source of liquidity that supports lending, sustains local communities across the Country, and strengthens the resiliency of the broader U.S. financial system.
Donovan further noted that the FHLBanks function as connective tissue in housing finance, supporting single-family and multifamily lending, primary and secondary markets, urban and rural communities, and both large and small institutions. Providing reliable liquidity to regulated financial institutions whose balance sheets and lending activities include mortgage and community credit is the mechanism through which the FHLBanks fulfill their fundamental mission, he said.
Donovan also testified about the important role the FHLBanks play in addressing housing affordability and community development. He discussed the FHLBanks’ Affordable Housing Program (AHP), which has delivered more than $9 billion in grant funding since 1990, and stressed that AHP is only one component of a broader array of programs the FHLBanks deploy to support affordable housing and community needs.
“The Federal Home Loan Bank System is a congressional success story,” said Donovan. “It is a member-owned cooperative network that provides safe, secured liquidity that supports housing affordability and community development, and delivers substantial, independently measured public benefit for the financial system and for families seeking a home.”
Read Donovan’s full testimony.
About: The FHLBanks are 11 regionally based, wholesale suppliers of lendable funds to financial institutions of all sizes and many types, including community banks, credit unions, commercial and savings banks, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions. The FHLBanks are cooperatively owned by member financial institutions in all 50 states and U.S. territories. The steady supply of lendable funds from FHLBanks helps U.S. lenders invest in local needs including housing, jobs, and economic growth. The Council of FHLBanks represents all 11 FHLBanks.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Council of FHLBanks
Peter E. Garuccio
202-955-0002 ext. 14
pgaruccio@cfhlb.org
