Excerpt from new Cato paper – Calabria
The sole authority granted to the Treasury under the GSE provisions of HERA is in the exercise of its rights as a creditor, should it provide assistance to the GSEs. While a creditor can, of course, negotiate certain provisions as a condition of providing credit, under no circumstances can those conditions supersede other provisions of law. The Treasury has no authority to assume the powers of a conservator via its rights as a creditor. The Treasury can no more, as a creditor, bind FHFA’s authorities, than could a holder of bank debt bind the powers of FDIC. Moreover, FHFA, as an independent regulator, has no authority to delegate its powers as a conservator/receiver to the Treasury or any other government agency. The role of the Treasury was viewed under HERA as that of a creditor. The Treasury was directed to consider issues of priority and protection of the taxpayer. In addition, such assistance was intended to be temporary, as is the nature of credit, rather than perpetual, as is the nature of equity. Put simply Treasury assistance to the GSEs was envisioned to take the form of a senior debt, something like debtor-in-possession financing. Such assistance was not intended to keep the GSEs out of receivership or to transfer losses from creditors to the taxpayer.
Link to full paper http://object.cato.org/