{"text":[[{"start":10.03,"text":"The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to take US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public later this year, in a move that would bring the federally-backed housing finance agencies out of government control."}],[{"start":28.32,"text":"The administration was discussing raising about $30bn through a stock offering, with their combined value estimated at around $500bn, according to people familiar with the situation."}],[{"start":43.16,"text":"While one senior White House official cautioned that the plans for the housing agencies remained fluid and might change in the coming months, a privatisation could affect the functioning of the US mortgage market and create a potential windfall for hedge funds."}],[{"start":60.89999999999999,"text":"Chief executives of some of the country’s largest banks — including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America — have in recent weeks met with US President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss the future of Fannie and Freddie. One person familiar with the meetings described them as a “fishing expedition” to solicit advice from Wall Street leaders."}],[{"start":86.24,"text":"Trump has previously said he hoped to take the mortgage groups out of government control, and in May, he stoked a new wave of speculation when he posted on Truth Social that he was “giving very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public”."}],[{"start":105.72999999999999,"text":"However, some housing analysts said they were sceptical that the agencies would fetch a valuation worth $500bn, and added that there remained looming questions around the entities’ complicated capital structures."}],[{"start":122.75999999999999,"text":"Fannie and Freddie are crucial to the vast market for US home loans, by buying and repackaging mortgages. They were created by the government and later transferred to shareholder ownership with an implicit guarantee that the state would intervene if they ran into trouble."}],[{"start":141.64999999999998,"text":"They collapsed back into government control during the 2008 financial crisis with a $189bn bailout, and have since remained in conservatorship. They failed after guaranteeing lower quality mortgages, which led to huge losses when the housing bubble burst."}],[{"start":162.07999999999998,"text":"The US’s booming housing market in recent years has helped Fannie and Freddie recover. Fannie has provided $178bn in funding for housing financings through to the end of June, while Freddie has funded $195bn worth of mortgages during the same period, according to their most recent earnings reports."}],[{"start":188.35999999999999,"text":"Trump has previously said that the “implicit guarantees” from the government would still remain even if the companies were taken public through a stock offering. The White House has not elaborated on how that backstop would be structured if they were publicly listed."}],[{"start":206.7,"text":"Hedge fund billionaires Bill Ackman and John Paulson have long predicted that the two entities will eventually return to shareholders, and both are expected to make a windfall if they do. Fannie and Freddie, which trade on the decentralised “over the counter” market rather than mainstream Wall Street exchanges, have surged 795 per cent and 646 per cent in the past year respectively."}],[{"start":236.79,"text":"The Wall Street Journal first reported the White House’s plans."}],[{"start":241.82999999999998,"text":"Additional reporting by Akila Quinio"}],[{"start":252.95999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1754867841_1341.mp3"}