OFHEO to Study Ousted Exec Comp Payments

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the regulator for troubled mortgage financing concern Fannie Mae, said it would examine the lavish severance packages the company plans to pay ousted chief executive Franklin D. Raines and former chief financial officer J. Timothy Howard. According to an SEC filing, Raines is entitled to receive monthly pension payments of $114,393 for life, or roughly $1.4 million a year. He is also owed $8.7 million in deferred compensation. Raines also holds vested options for 1.6 million shares of stock, plus options for another 368,800 shares. In total, Raines would be due more than $19 million. Howard, also 55, would be eligible for $36,071 in monthly pension payments and deferred compensation of $4 million. He holds vested options for 481,600 shares. Howard is also eligible for $84,000 in salary from Dec. 20, 2004 through January 2005. Both Raines and Howard were ousted last week by the Fannie Mae board. The SEC has ordered the company to restate its financials for the three-year period from 2001-2004. That would reduce earnings by roughly $9 billion.