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US mortgage ind seeking overhaul of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

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Press Trust of India New York

The US mortgage-industry trade group is calling for Congress to transform the government controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into several smaller private held companies, says a report.     

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage-industry trade group is calling for Congress to transform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into several smaller private held companies that would issue mortgage securities carrying an explicit government guarantee.     

The proposed framework, to be released today by the MBA, would give successor entities to Fannie and Freddie the authority to create securities backed by certain types of mortgages, the report said.     

 

The new companies would guarantee securities against defaults on underlying mortgages and will also pay fees to a federal insurance fund, which would guarantee interest and principal payments to bondholders if the companies were unable to make them, the report noted.     

Attributing to MBA Chief Executive Officer John Courson the daily said restoring and maintaining investor's confidence requires an explicit guarantee.     

"If we're going to restore and maintain investor's confidence and... Consistent liquidity, that is going to require an explicit backstop," quoting Courson the report said.

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First Published: Sep 02 2009 | 2:29 PM IST

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