[Financial Times] Freddie Mac's debt issue in big fall By Jenny Wiggins in New York Published: July 21 2003 22:06 | Last Updated: July 21 2003 22:06
The value of debt issued by US mortgage financiers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell to its lowest level in two months on Monday amid market rumours that European central banks had been encouraged to reduce their holdings. Unconfirmed reports that the European Central Bank had recommended central banks cut their holdings of so-called agency debt sparked selling. Agency debt spreads widened around 4 basis points last week, and another 2 points on Monday, traders said. The selling pushed the spread on 10-year agency debt relative to Treasuries out to 43bp - the highest level since May. The ECB declined to comment. Central banks have more than doubled their holdings of agency securities over the past three years. In mid-July, some $184bn of agency securities were held in custody accounts for central banks at the US Federal Reserve, up from $88bn three years ago. These figures are "a very good proxy" for central banks' overall holdings of agency securities, said Nancy Vanden Houten, analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates. "Central banks are big buyers of agency securities," she said. Agency securities hold the top credit rating of "AAA" but pay more interest than government bonds, making them an attractive investment for banks. There were some $2,400bn of agency securities outstanding at the end of the first quarter, according to the Bond Market Association. The selling of agency securities over the past week is notable because debt investors have remained relatively comfortable holding agency debt since the Freddie Mac scandal broke in early June. The value of Freddie Mac's stock dropped more sharply than the value of its debt after the company ousted three top executives, including its CEO. But debt investors are becoming increasingly nervous about the outcome of the regulatory investigations and are looking for reassurance that there are no further accounting problems at Freddie Mac. "The market is eagerly awaiting the final audited report from Freddie's new auditors on the earnings restatement going back to 2000," said Arthur Frank, head of mortagage research at Nomura Securities. Freddie Mac's chief financial officer, Martin Baumann, will today testify before the House of Representatives' energy and commerce panel on the company's derivatives accounting. Additional reporting by Adrienne Roberts
