http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11729-2004Oct6.htmlBoth Sides Critical At Fannie Hearing
CEO Denounces Regulator's Report, Methods
By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 7, 2004; Page E01
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Fannie Mae chairman and chief executive Franklin D. Raines yesterday criticized the giant mortgage funding company's federal regulator for airing allegations that the company cooked its books so executives could receive bonuses.
"This entire examination has been the most unusual regulatory endeavor I've seen in the 30-some-odd years I've been in this business," Raines told a House subcommittee in his first public response to a critical report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. "I don't believe there has been an adequate explanation of why they followed this path."
The release of the report triggered a $14 billion decline in Fannie's stock market valuation, he said. But Armando Falcon Jr., OFHEO's director, countered in a separate appearance that Fannie Mae deliberately flouted accounting rules to make its earnings growth appear steady and to boost executive compensation.
Others suggested that Falcon was trying to redeem his reputation after he and his agency were roundly criticized last year as weak and inattentive for failing to detect billions of dollars of accounting errors and distortions at Fannie's rival, McLean-based Freddie Mac.
Fannie had enlisted lawyer Kenneth W. Starr, who led the investigation of President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, to try to keep Baker from disseminating that information. The chart Baker released showed that
21 Fannie Mae executives, including lobbyists, each received more than $1 million in 2002, not including stock options. At rival Freddie Mac, seven executives received more than $1 million in 2002, the chart showed.