Fannie and Freddie Try To Cut Preferred Stock Dividends So They Can Repay Taxpayers

A team of scientists from Japan, Russia and the United States hopes to clone a mammoth, a symbol of Earth’s ice age that ended 12,000 years ago. The researchers say they hope to produce a baby mammoth before Freddie and Fannie get restructured.

The Financial Times reports that Freddie and Fannie have been quietly lobbying the US Treasury to cut the dividend they pay on preferred stock issued as part of their government bail-out. “A lower dividend would allow the two to begin repaying $150bn in taxpayer aid, these people said. It would also pave the way for a restructuring of the companies by cutting the amount of outstanding preferred stock held by the Treasury. Were it not for the dividend, both Fannie and Freddie would be close to breaking even. “Borrowing from the Treasury to repay the Treasury doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Bose George of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The Mortgage Banker’s Association released its 2011 legislative and regulatory priorities. The MBA has come under some criticism lately for focusing on the needs of its larger members, sometimes at the perceived expense of the mid-sized and smaller mortgage bankers.