BANKING/CABINET/TREASURY/TRUMP PEOPLE/STEVEN MNUCHIN: “In 2008, as the financial crisis swirled, the federal government rushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship. The two giant mortgage-finance companies became wards of the state under a new regulator that would manage their affairs until they were healthy enough to stand on their own.
Nearly nine years later, they’re still under government control. And while in some ways their crisis has receded, in other—and what some would call self-inflicted—ways, Fannie FNMA, -1.51% and Freddie FMCC, -0.79% still teeter on the edge of needing another taxpayer bailout.
As congressional testimony of recent weeks has revealed, that precarious position is starting to make policymakers nervous.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday told the Senate Banking Committee that he expected Fannie and Freddie would continue to pay dividends to the Treasury Department, despite earlier comments from the enterprises’ regulator that he might suspend the dividend to allow the companies to retain enough money to operate safely.”
-Andrea Riquier, “Mnuchin expects Fannie and Freddie to keep sending profits to the U.S. Treasury,” MarketWatch, May 18, 2017 11:55am