Cash Pay Advance

Chart shows salaries for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's top executives; 1c x 3 3/8 inches; 46. WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans queasy about a federal rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are coalescing around the idea of letting the government slap limits on the multimillion-dollar pay packages of their executives. At a time when Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s troubles have investors worried and the government ready to jump in with untold sums of cash, the lavish pay of the two companies’ executives is increasingly difficult to defend, they say. Critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including Republicans who question the very existence of government-sponsored mortgage companies, have long denounced the firms for richly compensating shareholders and executives in good times while relying on taxpayers and the government to prop them up should they falter. Frank said the housing legislation already includes “any reasonable control over Fannie and Freddie,” but that he now believes Congress should explicitly give the regulator power to approve pay packages. The agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac already has the authority to bar them from awarding executives “excessive” compensation that’s out of whack with what similar firms’ top people receive. Find Out More

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