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WASHINGTON-Last week the story du jour in Washington was the Obama administration's "maybe" plans to create a bad bank to buy billions worth of toxic mortgages (and other assets) to unclog the balance sheets of depositories everywhere.
But there was also the news that Fannie Mae would ask Treasury for $16 billion in new funding (so it could maintain a positive net worth) while laying off hundreds of workers.
The request for more taxpayer funds was disclosed by the GSE in a public filing. As for the layoffs, Fannie finally acknowledged them in a press release after a few members of the media - including a reporter from this newspaper - got wind that the GSE had laid off upwards of 900 workers since early December.
As one company insider told National Mortgage News, "There's been quiet job cuts...