Inman

Federal regulators dispute Fannie Mae exit packages

Former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, forced out last week as head of the mortgage giant, is due to receive of a pension of about $1.3 million a year for life, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the SEC documents, Fannie Mae also revealed that Raines has deferred compensation of $8.7 million to be paid through 2020 and owns more than $5.5 million in the company’s stock.

But Fannie Mae’s federal regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has asked the company to hold off paying any compensation to Raines until they have time to investigate the package and whether it was appropriate for Fannie Mae to let Raines retire early rather than be dismissed.

Last week, Raines announced his early retirement from the company, while chief financial officer J. Timothy Howard announced his resignation. The departures came after days of board talks and less than a week after the Securities and Exchange Commission directed the company to make accounting corrections that could erase $9 billion of past profit.

Fannie Mae also faces an investigation by the Justice Department, a civil investigation by the SEC, an ongoing probe by OFHEO, and lawsuits from shareholders.

According to the SEC filing, Howard will be paid $84,000 in salary through Jan. 31 and receive a monthly pension of more than $36,000 for the rest of his life. He has more than 480,000 shares of stock options, and deferred compensation of $4 million.

Fannie Mae is a shareholder-owned company chartered by Congress to maintain a steady flow of mortgage funds for the nation’s housing market. The company has been on the defensive since its federal regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, released a scathing 211-page report alleging the company used improper accounting techniques.

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