Fury over $35million paid to top bosses of bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac



The top bosses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were paid $35.4million after the mortgage giant was given huge bailouts by the taxpayer.

Six executives were given the enormous salaries over the two years the organisations received $153billion to stop them from collapsing - although total losses may reach $363billion.

Fannie Mae’s chief executive Michael Williams was paid $9.3million between 2009 and 2010 whilst Freddie Mac’s boss Charles Haldeman received $7.8million over the same period.

BIG BUCKS: Freddie Mac’s boss Charles Haldeman, left, made $7.8million and Fannie Made chief Michael Williams made $9.3million between 2009 and 2010. Each started in 2009 and were hired to sort out the troubled mortgage giants



A highly critical report said there was a lack of oversight on the part of both agencies and regulators and that the bosses could have been overpaid without them realising.

It also revealed that regulators had not even set up a mechanism to review executive pay at either of the lenders.

The figures are likely to spark fury amongst the millions of homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments to avoid foreclosure on their homes.

They will be hugely embarrassing for the White House and will add fuel to Republican efforts to close down both agencies and cut them out of the mortgage market.



The report by the inspector general of the government Federal Housing Finance Agency, which was tasked with monitoring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, criticised its own ‘lack of standardized evaluation criteria, documentation of management procedures and internal controls’ which could have lead to overpayments.

FHFA rules may have even made it easier for the directors to hit their performance targets to earn more money, it found.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives also received far more than their counterparts at similar agencies.

The top boss at Ginnie Mae, another government mortgage agency, was paid an annual salary of just $200,000, the report said.

The U.S. Treasury has invested close to $154 billion to stabilise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Steve Linick, the newly appointed inspector general of the FHFA said in a statement: ‘FHFA has a responsibility to Congress and taxpayers to efficiently, consistently, and reliably ensure that the compensation paid to Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s senior executives is reasonable.

‘This is especially true when you realize that the U.S. Treasury has invested close to $154 billion to stabilise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’ when they are ‘spending tens of millions of dollars for executive compensation’.

Fannie Mae, based in Washington, and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac have been kept afloat by Treasury funds since they were seized in September 2008.

They have a combined loan portfolio valued at $1.5 trillion, and own or guarantee more than half of U.S. mortgages.

The disclosure came as Republicans renewed their efforts to wind down both agencies.

A bill they have before the House would eliminate their role in the mortgage market after being guilty of what senior G.O.P. members called ‘gambling away billions of dollars’.

In a statement officials at the FHFA said that the huge pay packets were necessary to attract the best people for the job.

They added that the remuneration is still 40% less than before the bailout.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined to comment.

