Fannie, Freddie to Pay $210M in Bonuses

FHFA has spent $37M on accused fraudsters since takeover

(NEWSER) - The US government has sunk almost $100 million into defending a trio of ex-Fannie Mae executives accused of securities fraud, including $37 million since the government took control of the firm, according to a regulatory analysis released today. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is on the hook for those costs because of contracts signed before the federal takeover, the New York Times explains—though the inspector general's report notes that the government could have repudiated those contracts during the takeover, but didn't. More»

Government hasn't been transparent enough, report complains

(NEWSER) - The federal government has improperly paid the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac huge salaries while the housing giants have been under government control, the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency concludes in a new report. The CEOs were paid a total of $17.1 million in 2009 and 2010, the first two years of full government control, according to Reuters . The top six execs raked in $35.4 million during that time. More»

(NEWSER) - Executives at government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are scheduled to receive six-figure retention bonuses, but Barney Frank wants the payments canceled, MarketWatch reports. “In this troubled economy, and in this job market, it is difficult to imagine that the companies would not be able to find competent and talented replacements for anyone who chooses to leave,” the House Financial Services chair said in a letter to a federal regulator. More»

COO, CFO, and general counsel stuck around to help trustee

(NEWSER) - MF Global may have gone down in a ball of flames, but its chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and general counsel are all likely to get six-figure performance-based bonuses anyway, the Wall Street Journal reports. All three execs stuck around after the crash to help trustee Louis Freeh deal with the firm's assets and pay creditors, and he's expected to ask a bankruptcy-court judge to approve bonuses for them and up to 20 other MF Global employees who stayed on. More»

Wall Street workers finding it difficult to get by, or so they say

(NEWSER) - Wall Street bankers received smaller bonuses this month, and it is really hard for them. If you're having trouble dredging up any sympathy, perhaps that's because you just don't understand what it's like to be in the 1%: "People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress," one Marks Paneth & Shron partner explains. "Could you imagine what it’s like to say, 'I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out?' How do you do that?" Bloomberg says that cuts to 2011 discretionary pay were at least 25% at Goldman Sachs and Barclays and that cash bonuses were capped at $125,000 at Morgan Stanley, but the New York Times says bonuses have been "merely bruised," and that total payouts are predicted to drop just 14% this bonus season. More fairly unbelievable tidbits from Bloomberg's tales of woe: More»