Bill Hampel, senior vice president and chief economist at CUNA, told Congress Nov. 5 his trade association supports the Corker-Warner bill's general approach to housing finance reform, but he suggested several areas in need of improvement.

"CUNA believes the general approach to housing finance reform embodied in S.1217 to be very well thought out and sound public policy," said Hampel before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs during a hearing on housing finance reform and protecting small lender access to the secondary mortgage market.

"S. 1217 corrects the fatal design flaws of the previous system, while maintaining the effective aspects of that system to create a structure designed to serve borrowers and lenders of all sizes well, preserving a backup government guarantee with sufficient protections that risk to the taxpayer is reduced to nearly zero," he added in his written testimony.