The U.S. government's planned takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came together hurriedly after advisers poring over the companies' books for the Treasury Department concluded that Freddie's accounting methods had overstated its capital cushion, according to regulatory officials briefed on the matter.
The proposal to place both mortgage giants, which own or back $5.3 trillion in mortgages, into a government-run conservatorship also grew out of deep concern among foreign investors that the companies' debt might not be repaid.
Falling home prices, which are expected to lead to more defaults among the mortgages held or guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie, contributed to the urgency, regulators said.
The details of the deal have not fully emerged, but it appears that investors who own the companies' common stock will be virtually wiped out; preferred shareholders, who have priority over other shareholders, may also end up with little. Holders of debt, including many foreign central banks, are expected to receive government backing. Top executives of both companies will be pushed out, according to those briefed on the plan.
While it is not yet possible to calculate the cost of the government's intervention, it could rise into tens of billions of dollars and will probably be among the most expensive rescues ever financed by taxpayers. The takeover comes on the heels of a rescue of the New York investment bank Bear Stearns, which was sold to JPMorgan Chase in a deal backed by taxpayer dollars. The U.S. housing crisis already has cost investors and consumers hundreds of billions of dollars.
Emphasis added by me.
Note this:
Top executives of both companies will be pushed out
Why won't they be criminally prosecuted? Is it too much trouble to bring charges against them? Or is this going to be swept under the rug into the Shit Happens category and then into the Every American Gets The Bill category?
Note this:
Accusations of questionable accounting are not new for either company. Earlier in this decade, both companies paid large fines and dismissed their top executives after accounting scandals.
And finally:
For years, both companies have effectively recognized losses whenever payments on a loan were 90 days past due. But, in recent months, the companies said they would wait until payments were two years late. As a result, tens of thousands of loans have not been marked down in value.
Emphasis added by me.
Why does that sound like fraud to me? Why doesn't it sound like fraud to our government?
As usual, The Fix Is In.
Previously here:
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #181
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #166
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #159
And So The Economic Endgame Commences
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #147
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #146
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #143
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #133
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