Freddie Mac names Brickman president as Layton plans departure

Freddie Mac is promoting Executive Vice President David Brickman to president and will consider him among possible candidates to be the agency's next CEO after Donald Layton retires next year.

The government-sponsored enterprise also will work with an executive search firm to consider external candidates to succeed Layton, who plans to step down in the second half of 2019.

Deborah Jenkins, Freddie's senior vice president of multifamily underwriting and credit, will take over Brickman's responsibilities as executive vice president and head of the agency's multifamily division starting on Jan. 1 of next year.

Leadership changes are expected not only at Freddie Mac, but several other housing finance agencies, where a number of political developments are playing out in ways that could result in or contribute to executive turnover.

The Trump administration has been pushing for reform that could remove Fannie and Freddie from conservatorship. In addition, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, its inspector general, and rival government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae all have faced conflict-of-interest allegations.

At the same time, FHFA Director Mel Watt's term is about to end, and Fannie Mae CEO Tim Mayopoulos has made plans to depart by the end of the year, citing a desire for a career change and confidence in Fannie's soundness.

"If you are a CEO by the time you think about leaving you want to make sure that two things are in place. One, that you are leaving the company in better shape than you found it, and, second, that you are leaving the company with people and structures in place so that progress can continue," Mayopoulos said in a recent interview. "I feel really good about where the company is and that it will be able to continue on."