What Is a Federal Agency?

Federal agencies are special government organizations set up for a specific purpose such as, the management of resources, financial oversight of industries, or national security issues. These organizations are typically created by legislative action, but may initially be set up by presidential order as well. The directors of these agencies are typically selected by president🐻ial appointment.

Understanding Federal Agencies

Federal agencies are created by the government to regulate industries or practices that require close oversight or specialized expertise. Some organizations, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the 澳洲幸运5😼开奖号码历史查询:Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), have their operations explicitly backed by the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:U.S. Treasury. Other organizations, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie M🅰ac, and Sallie Mae are only provided with an implicit guܫarantee from the U.S. Treasury.

A number of the organizations which are an actual part of the government issue securities such as stocks and bonds. These have been historically popular with investors. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Federal agency bonds, which are bonds that are backed by the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:full faith and credit of the United States government, are examples of federal agency securities. Investors expect to receive regular interest payments from holding an agency bond. At maturity, the full 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:face value of the agency bond is repaid to the bondholder. Because federal agency bonds are less liquid than 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Treasury bonds, they offer a slightly higher rate of interest than Treasury bonds. Examples of federal agencies that guarantee certain bonds or securities include the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Federal Housing Administration (FHA), 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Small Business Administration (SBA), and 澳洲幸♓运5开奖号码历史查询:Government National Mort💙gage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae).

Other Types of Government Bonds

Another type of bond issued by government agencies is the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) bond. These bonds are issued by corporations that are not quite part of the government but are set up by Congress to work for the common good of the country. These enterprises mostly operate on their own and are publicly held on the major exchanges. GSEs include the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Federal Home Loan Mortgage (Freddie Mac), Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation, and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB). The government guarantee that applies to agency bonds does not apply to GSE bonds, which therefore have 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:credit risk and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:default risk. For thi꧅s reason, the yield on these bonds is typically higher than the yield on Treasury bonds.

Mortgage loans are backed by federal agency securities issued by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHLB, and hold a very high credit rating. Agency securities are also used as collateral for the supply of money released by the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Federal Reserve. Sold by a nationwide group ꧅of banks and dealers, these securities raise money to fund public needs such as road building, low-cost housing, urban renewal, and also to provide low-interest rate loans to farmers, small business owners, and veterans.