Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac common stock soared on a report that President Donald Trump is soliciting big banks for ideas on how to monetize the two mortgage giants.
The White House recently invited a small number of U.S. banks to discuss the futures of Fannie Mae and Freddie, a person familiar with the meetings told Barron's on Thursday.
The meetings were first reported by Bloomberg. The president is discussing with bank CEOs the idea of a potential public offering for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation.
Common stock of both companies, which trade on OTC Markets, jumped in after-hours trading. Freddie Mac was up 5.7%, while Fannie Mae was 14.4% higher.
The CEOs Trump has met with or is expected to see in the coming days includes JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs Group's David Solomon, and Bank of America's Brian Moynihan, according to Bloomberg. A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. A Goldman spokeswoman declined to comment.
On Thursday, Wells Fargo also had a presence at the White House to meet and discuss Fannie and Freddie, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told Barron's.
The White House, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac didn't immediately respond to a request for confirmation or additional context.
Meetings between the administration and the chiefs of some of the largest U.S. lenders are an indication that making a decision on the future of the companies, which have been under government conservatorship since 2008 financial crisis, is a priority for the administration.
Trump in his first term said he wanted to remove the companies from conservatorship. But plans this time around have been hazy. Making changes to the companies' ownership structure is a complex decision with implications for a wide range of stakeholders including home buyers and owners, taxpayers, mortgage-backed securities investors, and shareholders.
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office explored two roads forward for the two mortgage companies, with varied outcomes for both shareholders and taxpayers.
The president posted on Truth Social in May that he was "giving very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public," and added that "the U.S. Government will keep its implicit GUARANTEES" several days later.
Still missing are details on the timeline and approach. Bill Pulte, who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, recently told Barron's that he thinks "it's likely that the companies will stay in conservatorship, but the president is actively looking at simultaneously potentially taking them public."
"That could mean, you know, a small amount, or pieces, or just ways to get additional liquidity," he said, adding that the decision "will be entirely up to the president."
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