Other Assets and Liabilities

Other assets at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, are summarized in the following table.

Table 11.1 – Components of Other Assets



(In Thousands)	December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Margin receivable	$	83,191	$	65,374
Pledged collateral	53,600		9,927
FHLBC stock	34,437		10,688
Guarantee asset	5,697		7,201
Fixed assets and leasehold improvements ⁽¹⁾	4,117		3,008
REO	4,896		4,391
Investment receivable	3,870		1,103
Prepaid expenses	3,640		3,372
Deposits	—		5,000
Other	4,438		3,832
Total Other Assets	$	197,886	$	113,896


(1)	Fixed assets and leasehold improvements have a basis of $6 million and accumulated depreciation of $2 million at December 31, 2015.

Accrued expenses and other liabilities at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 are summarized in the following table.

Table 11.2 – Components of Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities



(In Thousands)	December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Accrued compensation	$	17,527	$	19,273
Guarantee obligations	22,704		7,201
Margin payable	6,415		6,455
Residential loan and MSR repurchase reserve	6,403		3,724
Current accounts payable	4,764		2,112
Legal reserve	2,000		2,000
Accrued operating expenses	1,845		3,334
Other	8,239		8,145
Total Other Liabilities	$	69,897	$	52,244

Margin Receivable and Payable

Margin receivable and payable resulted from margin calls between us and our derivatives, master repurchase agreements, and warehouse facilities counterparties, whereby we or the counterparty were required to post collateral.

Guarantee Asset, Pledged Collateral, and Guarantee Obligations

The pledged collateral, guarantee asset, and guarantee obligations presented in the tables above are related to the risk sharing arrangements we entered into with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In accordance with certain of these arrangements we are required to pledge collateral to secure potential risk-sharing obligations to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Based on our deliveries of loans through December 31, 2015, we were over-collateralized by approximately $18 million. In January 2016 we announced we will discontinue the acquisition and aggregation of conforming loans for resale to the Agencies. Pursuant to the terms of these arrangements, we expect to receive a significant portion of this collateral back in the first quarter of 2016. See Note 3 and Note 15 for additional information on our risk sharing arrangements.

Investment Receivable and Unsettled Trades

In accordance with our policy to record purchases and sales of securities on the trade date, if the trade and settlement of a purchase or sale crosses over a quarterly reporting period, we will record an investment receivable for sales and an unsettled trades liability for purchases.

REO

The carrying value of REO at December 31, 2015, was $5 million, which includes the net effect of $9 million related to transfers into REO during the year ended December 31, 2015, offset by $4 million of REO liquidations and $4 million of negative market valuation adjustments. At December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, there were 23 and 22 REO properties, respectively, recorded on our consolidated balance sheets, all of which were owned at consolidated Sequoia entities.

See Note 15 for additional information on the legal and residential repurchase reserves.