Fannie Mae Announces 2-Year Benchmark Note

Fannie Mae (FNM) announced a new two-year benchmark note offering on Tuesday, its second debt offering this month.

Fannie didn't announce the size of the deal.

This issue follows Fannie's sale last week of $4 billion in three-year notes. The mortgage finance company went with a smaller size issue after the megadeals earlier this year.

This strategy is similar to that adopted by sibling Freddie Mac (FRE) in late February when it issued notes of $3 billion and $5 billion in size in March.

Fannie's previous two-year issue was in late February when it sold $15 billion of these bonds at 68 basis points over comparable Treasury yields. That bond, with a 1.75% coupon, currently trades 1 basis point wider at 55.5 basis points over comparable Treasury yields, according to TradeWeb data.

The most recently sold two-year note from Freddie Mac, with a 1.625% coupon, was trading at a similar range of 56 basis points over comparable Treasury yields. That issue sold at 71 basis points over comparable Treasury yields.

Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are the lead managers on the current deal, which is expected to settle on Thursday. The deal is expected to price Wednesday.

-By Prabha Natarajan, Dow Jones Newswires, 201-938-5071; [e-mail]