Big U.S. Banks’ Government-Backed MBS Holdings Hit Record High
- Twenty-five biggest banks own $1.9 trillion of agency MBS
- Lenders keep piling into assets with virtually no credit risk
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The largest U.S. banks increased their holdings of federally-backed mortgage securities by about $7 billion during the first week of February, raising their total stake to a record 15.8% of their combined assets, figures from the Federal Reserve show.
Across all banks in the U.S., total assets fell by 0.3% to $20.6 trillion in the week ended Feb. 3, according to the Fed.