Pursuits
Fannie, Freddie Investors Fight to Undo U.S. `Net Worth Sweep'
- Bailout plan amendment captured billions of dollars for U.S.
- Investors ask appeals court to reinstate rights to dividends
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The U.S. government’s 2012 decision to take all the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage companies bailed out by taxpayers in the financial crisis, will get a federal appellate review Friday when investors argue the appropriation was illegal.
Shares in both firms, which back about two-thirds of the $6.46 trillion U.S. residential mortgage market, climbed more than 40 percent this week on speculation that a three-judge panel in Washington might force the government to share the profits with the companies’ retail stockholders.