Lewis Ranieri — the co-inventor of the mortgage-backed security — and bond market maven Bill Gross are among a group of 12 speakers scheduled to testify Tuesday at a Treasury forum on the future of the housing finance system, a discussion that will touch on what to do about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan are to moderate the discussion, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Also listed to speak is Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America Corp.'s home loans unit, the nation's second-largest residential funder. B of A's mortgage operations include Countrywide Financial, once the nation's largest subprime lender. Mike Heid, a co-president of Wells Fargo & Co.'s mortgage unit, and S.A. Ibrahim, the CEO of Radian Group Inc., also are on the roster.
Gross is a co-founder and the chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. Ranieri, who pioneered the MBS market in the early 1980s when he was at Salomon Brothers, is chairman of Ranieri & Co.
The Treasury Department is working on a draft proposal to reorganize Fannie and Freddie and hopes to release its blueprint early next year. The two government-sponsored enterprises now account for 70% of all residential loans funded in the U.S. The Federal Housing Administration accounts for most of the balance.
