Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd, who oversaw the GSE's huge expansion into nonprime investing and securitization, late last week received a "Wells Notice" from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicating that he may face civil charges for allegedly misleading investors about the company's financial condition.
Mudd is the third GSE, or former GSE official, to receive a Wells Notice from the SEC in the past month. The other two, Donald J. Bisenius, and Anthony 'Buddy' Piszel, worked for Freddie Mac. (When Bisenius received his, he was still working for Freddie but then abruptly resigned from the company.)
Mudd became CEO of Fannie in 2004 and was ousted by regulators when they took control of the GSE in the fall of 2008.
Under Mudd's tenure Fannie expanded into Alt-A and nonprime investing. He was appointed CEO of the publicly traded Fortress Investment Group in August 2009. In a statement he said he plans to fight the allegations.
