Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which guarantee roughly half of all U.S. home loans, exist to help keep the mortgage market afloat. During the crisis, however, the two firms verged on the brink of collapse, costing taxpayers approximately $188 billion in rescue funds.
In December 2011, the SEC filed charges against six former Fannie and Freddie executives who nearly sunk the mortgage giants, alleging they knowingly misled investors about their exposure to risky subprime loans.
According to the SEC, Fannie told investors in 2007 that it had less than $5 billion in subprime loans on its books.
The SEC said the true figure was closer to $43 billion. Similarly, in
2006, Freddie disclosed between $2 billion and $6 billion worth of subprime loans, far short of the $141 billion the SEC alleged was on the books.
Fannie and Freddie entered into agreements accepting responsibility for its conduct, though neither admitted or denied the charges. For their part, the six executives named in the case promised to challenge the government, arguing that the companies consistently disclosed the makeup of their loan portfolios. The cases are ongoing.
In nearly every major legal case to emerge from the crisis, government prosecutors have won multi-million dollar settlements, but companies and officials have not been required to admit wrongdoing.
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