NYSE to delist Fannie, Freddie; their stocks plunge

Share prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage firms 80 percent owned by U.S. taxpayers, plunged Wednesday after regulators told them to delist their common and preferred shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has overseen the two companies since 2008, ordered the moves as a pre-emptive step after the New York Stock Exchange told Washington-based Fannie Mae its shares no longer met listing standards, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco said.

The delistings are expected to be effective in early July.

Fannie Mae and McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee more than half of the $11-trillion U.S. mortgage market, have been at risk of delisting since September 2008, when their share prices collapsed and they were seized by regulators. Fannie Mae fell 39 percent to 56 cents in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Freddie Mac fell 38 percent to 75 cents.

The U.S. Treasury has injected $145 billion into the firms since 2008 to keep them solvent amid rising foreclosures and defaults of mortgages on their books. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has promised to support the companies while Congress weighs an overhaul of the nation's mortgage-finance system. - Bloomberg News