| Page 3 of 3 < |
Fannie Mae's Repairman
Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.), shown asking questions during a February hearing on accounting irregularities at Fannie Mae, was persuaded by the company's chief executive Daniel H. Mudd to speak at a dinner for its national advisory council.
(By Ken Cedeno -- Bloomberg Ews)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Raines did not hesitate to call on the company's army of lobbyists and political allies to fight legislation he perceived as hindering its business. Mudd toned down the lobbying effort, laid off 20 managers in several regional offices and scaled back the company's political activity.
With Mudd, "I don't feel I'm being hyped or sold a bill of goods," said Rep. Barney Frank, (D-Mass.). "Frank [Raines] was arguing too hard. It was difficult to get information rather than advocacy."
Frank said Fannie Mae, to its detriment, fought reasonable legislation such as giving a federal regulator the ability to put the company in receivership if it ran into trouble. That provision is part of a bill now co-sponsored by Baker and Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) that was passed by the House last month -- legislation that Fannie, under Mudd, has generally favored.
"We need to realize that not every contrary opinion is a direct attack on the company," Mudd said. "And if all we ever do is talk to those who share our views, we're just preaching to the choir and we'll lose sight of the whole picture."
Mudd may be a break with past Fannie Mae chief executives in other ways. Whereas his three predecessors held the job for a decade each, Mudd, when asked how long he planned to stay, said that he took things "day by day" and that the company has a lot more to do.
He has an idea of what he hopes to say when he leaves. "I want to say that . . . we fixed the company by aligning our mission and business . . . and we fixed and built a stronger, better company culture."
Daniel H. Mudd's main job as chief executive may be to repair the company's relationships, steer it through a $10.8 billion restatement, and overhaul its accounting systems. But the toughest part of his assignment may be changing the culture.
Daniel H. Mudd's main job as chief executive may be to repair the company's relationships, steer it through a $10.8 billion restatement, and overhaul its accounting systems. But the toughest part of his assignment may be changing the culture.
