Fannie Mae's Former Chief Fights to Clear His Name
18.05.12
, And putting his mansion up for sale. Yet Mudd didn’t really leave Fannie Mae behind. In December 2011 the Securities and Exchange Commission sued him for allegedly misleading Fannie Mae investors about the company’s stake in subprime loans. Fortress directors offered to let Mudd stay on if he settled the matter quickly, according to two people with direct knowledge of the board’s thinking. Instead, he left Fortress to fight the charges full-time. His stint at Fannie Mae “cost me two jobs,” says Mudd, 53. “I’ve told my legal team, ‘If you use the word “settle,” I will fire you.’ ”
In March, Mudd asked a federal judge to dismiss the SEC complaint on grounds that during his tenure Fannie Mae filed detailed data on risky loans the company held. His lawyers also argued that the SEC failed to show Mudd had a motive, financial or otherwise, to deceive shareholders. No ruling is expected on the motion to dismiss before June.
The stakes are high for both Mudd and the agency. Losing the case could cost him some of the millions he earned during his four years as Fannie Mae’s CEO and make him a symbol of the excesses that blew up the housing market. For the SEC, a failed lawsuit would heighten criticism from lawmakers and others that the agency hasn’t held enough top executives accountable for taking risks that led to the worst recession since the 1930s. “They’ve got to show some scalps,” said Adam Pritchard, a University of Michigan law professor who previously served in the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel. “Anybody can file a case. It’s another thing to win it.
Source: BusinessWeek
FTC Hires Ex-Fannie Mae Counsel to Run Google Probe
18.05.12
From
2006 to 2008, Wilkinson, 49, has never lost a case.
“Historically, the FTC and the Justice Department bring in
outside counsel only in the most high-profile and complicated
cases, and only when they’re really serious about proceeding,”
said Samuel Miller, senior counsel with Sidley Austin LLP in San
Francisco, who was tapped to lead the department’s antitrust
case against Microsoft Corp. in 1994.
Google disclosed in June that the FTC had opened a broad
antitrust investigation of its business practices. The FTC is
focusing on whether Google unfairly ranks search results to
favor its own businesses and increased advertising rates for
competitors, people familiar with the probe told Bloomberg News
at the time.
Android Probe
The agency also is examining whether the Mountain View,
California-based company is using its control of the Android
mobile operating system to discourage smartphone makers from
using rivals’ applications, and whether search results that
include the new Google+ social-networking service violate
antitrust laws, the people said.
Source: BusinessWeek