FHLBank San Francisco Will Stop Publishing Cost of Funds Indices in Early 2020
SAN FRANCISCO — December 7, 2018 — The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco announced today that it will stop publishing three cost of funds indices early in 2020 because of the significant decline in the number of financial institutions eligible to report the data used to calculate the indices.
The Bank will no longer calculate and publish the 11th District Monthly Weighted Average Cost of Funds Index (COFI) after the publication of the December 2019 COFI on January 31, 2020.
The Bank will no longer calculate and publish the Semiannual Weighted Average Cost of Funds Indices for the 11th District and for California after the publication of the indices for the July-December 2019 period on February 18, 2020.
The UCLA Anderson Forecast, a unit of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, has undertaken an independent study of the utility of existing and observable reference rate indices in the absence of the 11th District cost of funds indices, funded by a research grant from the Bank. The Forecast expects to publish the results of its research in the first quarter of 2019.
The 11th District of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is made up of Arizona, California, and Nevada. When the COFI was originally developed in 1981, there were over 200 savings institutions, known as “COFI Reporting Members,” that reported their cost of funds data to the Bank for inclusion in the calculation of the indices. Today there are only 9 financial institutions that are COFI Reporting Members.
Only savings institution members of the Bank that meet certain criteria are included in the index. In 1998, the Bank discontinued the semiannual index for Nevada because there were no savings institutions headquartered in Nevada. In 2008, the Bank discontinued the semiannual index for Arizona because there was only one savings institution headquartered in Arizona.
Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco delivers low-cost funding and other services that help member financial institutions make home mortgage loans to people of all income levels and provide credit that supports neighborhoods and communities. The Bank also funds community investment programs that help members create affordable housing and promote community economic development. The Bank’s members are headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada and include commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions.