The Volokh Conspiracy - Government Takes Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The AP reports a federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

Government assumes control over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration, acting to avert the potential for major financial turmoil, announced Sunday that the federal government was taking control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Officials announced that the executives and board of directors of both institutions had been replaced. Herb Allison, a former vice chairman of Merrill Lynch, was selected to head Fannie Mae, and David Moffett, a former vice chairman of US Bancorp, was picked to head Freddie Mac.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the historic actions were being taken because "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe."

The huge potential liabilities facing each company, as a result of soaring mortgage defaults, could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, but Paulson stressed that the financial impacts if the two companies had been allowed to fail would be far more serious. . . .

Both companies were placed into a government conservatorship that will be run by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the new agency created by Congress this summer to regulate Fannie and Freddie. . . .

Paulson said that it would be up to Congress and the next president to figure out the two companies' ultimate structure. . . .

The companies own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total. . . .

Lockhart said in order to conserve about $2 billion in capital the dividend payments on both common and preferred stock would be eliminated. He said that all lobbying activities of both companies would stop immediately. Both companies over the years made extensive efforts to lobby members of Congress in an effort to keep the benefits they enjoyed as government-sponsored enterprises.

The transcript of the official statement is here. Several regulatory changes are announced.

UPDATE: As a reminder, Fannie Mae was involved in a lot more than "lobbying." There was the Enron-style accounting and the thuggish behavior.

	[Jim Lindgren, September 7, 2008 at 1:48pm] Trackbacks Government Takes Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The AP reports a federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Government assumes control over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration, acting to avert the potential for major financial turmoil, announced Sunday that the federal government was taking control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Officials announced that the executives and board of directors of both institutions had been replaced. Herb Allison, a former vice chairman of Merrill Lynch, was selected to head Fannie Mae, and David Moffett, a former vice chairman of US Bancorp, was picked to head Freddie Mac. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the historic actions were being taken because "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe." The huge potential liabilities facing each company, as a result of soaring mortgage defaults, could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, but Paulson stressed that the financial impacts if the two companies had been allowed to fail would be far more serious. . . . Both companies were placed into a government conservatorship that will be run by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the new agency created by Congress this summer to regulate Fannie and Freddie. . . . Paulson said that it would be up to Congress and the next president to figure out the two companies' ultimate structure. . . . The companies own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total. . . . Lockhart said in order to conserve about $2 billion in capital the dividend payments on both common and preferred stock would be eliminated. He said that all lobbying activities of both companies would stop immediately. Both companies over the years made extensive efforts to lobby members of Congress in an effort to keep the benefits they enjoyed as government-sponsored enterprises. The transcript of the official statement is here. Several regulatory changes are announced. UPDATE: As a reminder, Fannie Mae was involved in a lot more than "lobbying." There was the Enron-style accounting and the thuggish behavior.