Freddie Mac CEO To Resign, Seeks Return To Private Sector

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Government mortgage giant Freddie Mac (FRE) said Chief Executive David Moffett will resign no later than March 13, and the company is working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency to appoint his successor.

Freddie's shares were recently down 2.4% at 41 cents. The stock is off 44% so far this year and 98% in the last year.

The company, which has been under government conservatorship since September after it and sister company Fannie Mae (FNM) ran up billions of dollars in losses and saw their portfolios suffer amid rising foreclosures and exposure to subprime mortgages, also said it continues to believe the FHFA will submit a request for another $30 billion to $35 billion from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Moffett told Freddie's board that he wants to return to a role in the financial-services sector. Moffett took over as Freddie's CEO in September amid the federal government's takeover plan. Prior to that, he served as CEO of U.S. Bancorp (USB).

Freddie is slated to report its fourth-quarter results in the next several days, and they are expected to show increased losses and another request for more capital from the federal government.

-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089; [e-mail]

(Aparajita Saha-Bubna contributed to this story)