WASHINGTON, March 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and
AGM.A), the nation's secondary market provider that increases the
availability and affordability of credit for the benefit of rural
America, today released the following statement from Chief
Executive Officer Brad Nordholm
regarding the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and how
Farmer Mac is responding.
Farmer Mac is closely tracking the impact of COVID-19, with our
primary focus on safeguarding the well-being of our employees while
continuing to fulfill our mission and serve our customers in rural
America. We are proud to play a vital role as a source of secondary
market credit and liquidity for America's farmers and ranchers and
the local financial institutions and rural utilities that serve
them, and we know our role is especially important in times of
uncertainty. We remain confident in our ability to navigate the
evolving market conditions thanks to our strong and resilient
business model.
- Business Continuity Plan ("BCP"): We are
successfully operating uninterrupted with 100% of employees working
remotely from their homes since March 12,
2020. Our technology platform and BCP have been functioning
as designed in support of all functions of the organization, and we
are making frequent use of video conferencing and other technology
tools to stay in communication within our organization and with our
customers and suppliers. Our Board of Directors remains actively
engaged in its oversight role through regular teleconference
meetings, and we have worked effectively and cooperatively with our
regulator (the Office of Secondary Market Oversight within the Farm
Credit Administration) to provide requested information and to help
ensure the continued safety and soundness of Farmer Mac.
- Strong Liquidity: We have a strong capital base
and continue to maintain the same disciplined asset-liability
management policies and practices. Our daily access to the debt
capital markets continues to be strong, although we are seeing some
upward pressure on funding costs for longer-term issuances. We have
been proactive in bolstering our liquidity position given the
increased uncertainty in financial markets and are well above our
regulatory requirements. We have increased amounts held in our
short-term liquidity investment portfolio and are holding cash of
approximately $1 billion, which is in
excess of what we usually maintain. As another proactive measure to
preserve capital and liquidity, we have indefinitely suspended
repurchases under our $10 million
Board-authorized stock repurchase program.
- Consistent Underwriting: We are maintaining our
consistent underwriting policies and guidelines for credit
approvals and are closely evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on new
customer applications. We continue to stress test our credit
portfolio and interest rate risk levels, which remain within our
policy limits. We are focused on continuing to serve our customers
to help them during this difficult time and to remain a reliable,
durable, and trusted source of capital and liquidity to rural
America.
- Serving Our Customers: We remain focused on
serving the needs of our customers and are committed to helping
them provide flexibility and assistance to their borrowers who are
experiencing financial challenges due to COVID-19.
- Risk Factors: The full effects of COVID-19 are
evolving and unknown, but already it is clear that it is weighing
on the macroeconomic environment and has increased economic and
market uncertainty. We are actively evaluating potential emerging
risk factors related to COVID-19 that are specific to Farmer Mac's
business, operations, and workforce and will update the risk
factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2019 with the SEC
as we determine necessary or appropriate.
Farmer Mac continues to operate well in this period of
heightened uncertainty in support of the farmers, ranchers, and
rural utilities of America that comprise one of the most resilient
sectors of the economy. We are encouraged by our success in
operating the company during these last two weeks, and we remain
committed to fulfilling our mission and helping to maintain the
availability and flow of credit to American agriculture and rural
communities that is so essential.
About Farmer Mac
Farmer Mac is a vital part of the
agricultural credit markets and was created to increase access to
and reduce the cost of capital for the benefit of American
agricultural and rural communities. As the nation's secondary
market for agricultural credit, we provide financial solutions to a
broad spectrum of the agricultural community, including
agricultural lenders, agribusinesses, and other institutions that
can benefit from access to flexible, low-cost financing and risk
management tools. Farmer Mac's customers benefit from our low cost
of funds, low overhead costs, and high operational efficiency.
Additional information about Farmer Mac is available on Farmer
Mac's website at www.farmermac.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/farmer-mac-ceo-provides-covid-19-business-update-301030574.html
SOURCE Farmer Mac