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Murin to Resign from Ginnie Mae

Joseph J. Murin, the president of the Ginnie Mae, is stepping down after just over a year at the federal agency.

Gina Screen, a spokeswoman for Ginnie Mae, confirmed that Murin's last day will be today.
It is unclear when a successor will be named, Screen said.

Murin headed the agency during a tumultuous year in which Ginnie took center stage in the MBS market because of a surge in Federal Housing Administration lending. (Ginnie guarantees payments on bonds backed by FHA and Department of Veterans Affairs loans.)

Ginnie's MBS issuance even managed to eclipse those of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for a few months during the past year.

Murin, a mortgage industry veteran, was responsible for implementing a number of changes at Ginnie — particularly to its risk management policies, allowing the agency to collect more data and better analyze the risk of issuers.

In an interview earlier this year, Murin offered some advice to his eventual successor.
"It's important to keep the focus on three things: liquidity, best execution and risk, and to create a culture that is risk-averse," he said. "Keep it simple, don't overthink this. Follow the fundamentals and basics."

Unlike Fannie and Freddie, Ginnie is profitable. During its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the agency cleared $906 million on $1.015 billion of revenue.

Before being nominated to head Ginnie by President George W. Bush, Murin was a managing partner at Mortgage Settlement Network, in Pittsburgh, and was chief executive at Basis 100, a Toronto technology company.

He also was president of Century Mortgage Co., a unit of Standard Federal Savings and Loan in Gaithersburg, Md.

 

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