admin
06-16-2003, 06:39 AM
Tucked in the corner of the federal regulatory machine is a little-know regulatory agency called OFHEO -- the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
This agency has an immense responsibility; it regulates Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two gigantic agencies that create a secondary market for home mortgages.
Freddie Mac discharged several of its key executives for in approriate financial actions and some are criticizing OFHEO for not picking the matter first. In Washington, events such as these often lead to the creation of a new agency or merger with another. Instead a leading member of Congress sees the issue as a resource matter--simply give the agency additional resources. Such an action seems reasonable given the size and complexity of the two organizations it regulates.
Furthermore, the system seems to be working as it should -- the firm found out its problems, notified the public, and took a strong action. For this reason many experts see no long term damage
to Freddie Mac.
See Press coverage (http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/06/13/rtr999940.html)
This agency has an immense responsibility; it regulates Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two gigantic agencies that create a secondary market for home mortgages.
Freddie Mac discharged several of its key executives for in approriate financial actions and some are criticizing OFHEO for not picking the matter first. In Washington, events such as these often lead to the creation of a new agency or merger with another. Instead a leading member of Congress sees the issue as a resource matter--simply give the agency additional resources. Such an action seems reasonable given the size and complexity of the two organizations it regulates.
Furthermore, the system seems to be working as it should -- the firm found out its problems, notified the public, and took a strong action. For this reason many experts see no long term damage
to Freddie Mac.
See Press coverage (http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/06/13/rtr999940.html)