U.S. mortgage giant company's senior official found dead: police

2009-04-23 05:45:00  

·David Kellermann was found hanging himself in his house early in the morning. ·The 41-year-old man was appointed to the post in September last year. ·Kellermann received a bonus of about 800,000 dollars since government take-over, report said.

    WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) --

A senior official of the U.S. mortgage giant company was found dead as a result of an apparent suicide incident, said police on Wednesday.

    According to police, David Kellermann, the Freddie Mac's acting chief financial officer and senior vice president, was found hanging himself at the basement of his house in Vienna, Virginia, early in the morning.

    Police said that they arrived at the scene after receiving an alert from Kellermann's wife, Donna, but did not provide more details.

    The incident was considered as another blow to the company that owns or guarantees about 13 million mortgages but lost more than 50 billion U.S. dollars last year.

    The 41-year-old man was appointed to the post in September last year after the Treasury Department took over the company and its sibling Frannie Mae, both of which were criticized for financing risky loans that led to lots of foreclosure.

    Quoted by U.S. local media, neighbors said that Kellermann, who worked for Freddie Mac for the past 16 years, lost an amount of weight after he took the new job.

    Despite persuasion by neighbors that he should quit his job to release the pressure, Kellermann insisted that he would stay and help the company through its problems.

    After Kellermann's death, John Koskinen, the company's interim chief executive, said in a statement that Kellermann is "a man of great talents," and "his extraordinary work ethic and integrity inspired all who worked with him."

    Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement "our deepest sympathies are with his family and his colleagues at Freddie Mac during this difficult time."

    According to a report from the New York Times, Kellermann had received a bonus of about 800,000 dollars since the government take-over, which, as a part of totaled 210 million dollars for executives at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, has prompted scrutiny from lawmakers who have questioned bonuses for executives of firms receiving government bailouts.

U.S. rates on 30-year mortgages drop to new record low

2009-04-03 06:22:49  

    WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) --

Average rates on 30-year mortgages across the United States dropped this week to the lowest level on record for the second straight week, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday in its nationwide weekly survey.

    In the week ending April 2, rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.78 percent, down from 4.85 percent last week, according to the mortgage giant.

    The 4.85-percent rate had been the lowest in the history of Freddie Mac's survey, which dates back to 1971. The rates now are down by more than a full percentage point from a year ago.

    Mortgage rates in the country fell dramatically over the winter and have fallen further after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to assist the staggering housing market.

    The Federal Reserve announced last month that it would buy 1.2 trillion dollars in mortgage-backed securities and 300 billion dollars in long-term government debt, which traditionally influences rates on 30-year home loans.

    Other types of mortgage rates also declined this week.

    The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, dropped to 4.52 percent this week from 4.58 percent last week.

    Rates on five-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) fell to 4.92 percent from 4.96 percent. One-year ARMs, meanwhile, were down from 4.85 percent to 4.75 percent.

    Low mortgage rates have sparked a surge in refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan

U.S. Treasury increases aid to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

2009-02-18 23:49:26  

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) --

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday it was increasing financial aid to troubled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help stabilize the housing market.

    The Treasury was doing so "to ensure the strength and security of the mortgage market, to help maintain mortgage affordability, and to help keep interest rates low," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a statement.

    "Using funds already authorized by Congress for this purpose, Treasury is amending the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, contractual agreements between the Treasury and the conserved entities designed to ensure that each company maintains a positive net worth, to 200 billion dollars each from their original level of 100 billion dollars each," Geithner said.

    In addition, the Treasury will continue to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities to promote stability and liquidity in the marketplace, he added.

    The secretary said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are critical to the functioning of the housing finance system in the United States and "play a key role in making mortgage rates affordable and maintaining the stability and liquidity of our mortgage market."

    In 2008, almost three-quarters of new home loans were financed or guaranteed by the two giants, Geithner said.

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises that were created to provide stability in the secondary mortgage market and promote access to mortgage credit throughout the United States.

    Last July, Congress granted Treasury new authority to provide financial support to the two companies in order to provide stability to financial markets, support the availability of mortgage finance, and protect taxpayers, according to the statement.

Editor: Mu Xuequan