Fannie Mae’s president and CEO Daniel H. Mudd has borrowed a page from other struggling institutions: When the poop deck floods, change some of the officers. As of August 27. Peter Niculescu replaced Robert J. Levin as evp and Chief Business Officer; David C. Hisey replaced Stephan Swad as evp and CFO; and Michael Shaw stepped in for Enrico Dallavecchia as Chief Risk Officer.
“This team will be responsible for meeting the dual objectives of conserving capital and controlling credit losses while Fannie Mae continues to provide crucial liquidity to the U.S. housing and mortgage markets,” Mudd announced. So what is Mudd responsible for, then?
The toxic GSE keeps oozing, despite Fannie’s staff changes and Freddie Mac’s endless promises to raise capital. JPMorgan Chase revealed in an SEC filing that the value of its preferred shares of Fannie and Freddie had lost around half their value—some $600 million—since June. Sovereign bank earlier confirmed it held more $600 million in GSE paper. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of Thrift Supervision indicate there’s not much of a problem, though both are keeping a close eye on institutions’ exposure to the frayed GSEs. Fannie and Freddie managed to sell some short-term debt last week, giving taxpayers another seven days of relief.
