Raines Retires From Fannie Mae

WASHINGTON, DC-Franklin Raines has retired from the position of chairman and CEO at Fannie Mae, and vice chairman and CFO J. Timothy Howard resigned from the lender. To replace them, board member Stephen B. Ashley will become the non-executive chairman of the board, vice chairman and COO Daniel H. Mudd will serve as interim chief executive officer and EVP Robert Levin will serve as interim CFO.

The board of directors is working with executive search firm Spencer Stuart to find permanent replacements. The audit committee also dismissed KPMG LLP as the company’s independent auditor and has begun a search for a new auditor.

The moves come after a rough few months for the company. In September, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight released a report based on an eight-month investigation concluding that the government-sponsored enterprise had manipulated earnings and engaged in dubious accounting practices.