Freddie Mac’s Main Man is in the News
The captain is being attacked for his role in steering the titanic mortgage lender. This from the New York Times:
"Richard F. Syron, in 2004 received a memo from Freddie Mac's chief risk officer warning him that the firm was financing questionable loans that threatened its financial health.
"Today, Freddie Mac and the nation's other major mortgage finance company, Fannie Mae, are in such perilous condition that the federal government has readied a taxpayer-financed bailout that could cost billions. Though the current housing crisis would have undoubtedly caused problems at both companies, Freddie Mac insiders say Mr. Syron heightened those perils by ignoring repeated recommendations.
"In an interview, Freddie Mac's former chief risk officer, David A. Andrukonis, recalled telling Mr. Syron in mid-2004 that the company was buying bad loans that 'would likely pose an enormous financial and reputational risk to the company and the country.'
"Mr. Syron contends his options were limited.
"'If I had better foresight, maybe I could have improved things a little bit,' he said. 'But frankly, if I had perfect foresight, I would never have taken this job in the first place.'
"Those and other choices initially paid off for Mr. Syron, who has collected more than $38 million in compensation since 2003.
"Now, some outsiders are saying that Mr. Syron and the top executive at Fannie Mae - some of the highest-profile figures in the business world - should be replaced."
Replaced? The poor man will also be harassed by the press and probably hounded by lawsuits. A hanging would be more humane.
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning Australia
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About the Author
Best-selling investment author Bill Bonner is the founder and president of Agora Publishing, one of the world's most successful consumer newsletter companies. Owner of both Fleet Street Publications and MoneyWeek magazine in the UK, he is also author of the free daily e-mail The Daily Reckoning.
Comment by Joe on 10 August 2008:
NINJA - No Income No Job or Assets (a description of a risk category of mortgage applications) - I recall this entering the lexicon of financial terms in 2004-2005 ... And they think that no one could have foreseen the extended risks the mortgage market is now facing .... Clearly these men are idiots and as Bill mentions hanging would be more humane, according to Darwin these people should invalidate themselves from the financial evolutionary chain.
Comment by christina on 12 August 2008:
DINKUM- Double Income, No Kids, Unbeleivable Mortgage
SKINS- Spend The Kids Inheritance Now