I found this story to be interesting from CBS 11 News:
Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison announced a new policy Tuesday restricting all entertainment spending for customers and employees, including meals, sporting events and holiday parties. The action comes after a CBS 11 investigation revealed executives from Fannie Mae spent more than $6200 at the Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine during a September 29th outing. Receipts and documents obtained by CBS 11 show executives from Dallas, Chicago and Washington, DC were treated to golf with a mango towel service, food and hundreds of dollars worth of beer, wine and liquor.The outing came just 22 days after the federal government took over Fannie and pledged at least $200 billion in taxpayer funds to save the massive mortgage company from failure. CBS 11 brought the issue to Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who sits on the committee that now oversees Fannie Mae. At the time, Hersarling said he was outraged and would call for an investigation.One day after the CBS 11 report aired, Hensarling sent a letter to U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and demanded an investigation into the activities uncovered by CBS 11. And in response, Fannie Mae's CEO sent this letter to Congressman Hensarling:
Dear Congressman Hensarling:Chairman Frank forwarded to me your letter to him of November 4, 2008, regarding travel and entertainment expenses for a Fannie Mae customer event in Grapevine, Texas, in late September. I feel that I should respond to you personally. In the first weeks of our conservatorship, we began a sweeping transformation of the way Fannie Mae does business in order to align our practices with the interests of taxpayers and homeowners. One element of this change was dramatically reducing or eliminating, as appropriate, expenditures in the areas of lobbying, entertainment, sponsorships, meetings and events, and certain charitable activities. While we were making these cutbacks, our firm wide review did not identify the event in Dallas. We regret that oversight, we were highly embarrassed by it, and we took immediate action to prevent a recurrence. We imposed a moratorium on all entertainment expenses for customers or employees including meals, sporting events, and holiday parties as Fannie Mae completed a comprehensive assessment of all such expenditures and activities.
Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison announced a new policy Tuesday restricting all entertainment spending for customers and employees, including meals, sporting events and holiday parties. The action comes after a CBS 11 investigation revealed executives from Fannie Mae spent more than $6200 at the Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine during a September 29th outing. Receipts and documents obtained by CBS 11 show executives from Dallas, Chicago and Washington, DC were treated to golf with a mango towel service, food and hundreds of dollars worth of beer, wine and liquor.The outing came just 22 days after the federal government took over Fannie and pledged at least $200 billion in taxpayer funds to save the massive mortgage company from failure. CBS 11 brought the issue to Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who sits on the committee that now oversees Fannie Mae. At the time, Hersarling said he was outraged and would call for an investigation.One day after the CBS 11 report aired, Hensarling sent a letter to U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and demanded an investigation into the activities uncovered by CBS 11. And in response, Fannie Mae's CEO sent this letter to Congressman Hensarling:
Dear Congressman Hensarling:Chairman Frank forwarded to me your letter to him of November 4, 2008, regarding travel and entertainment expenses for a Fannie Mae customer event in Grapevine, Texas, in late September. I feel that I should respond to you personally. In the first weeks of our conservatorship, we began a sweeping transformation of the way Fannie Mae does business in order to align our practices with the interests of taxpayers and homeowners. One element of this change was dramatically reducing or eliminating, as appropriate, expenditures in the areas of lobbying, entertainment, sponsorships, meetings and events, and certain charitable activities. While we were making these cutbacks, our firm wide review did not identify the event in Dallas. We regret that oversight, we were highly embarrassed by it, and we took immediate action to prevent a recurrence. We imposed a moratorium on all entertainment expenses for customers or employees including meals, sporting events, and holiday parties as Fannie Mae completed a comprehensive assessment of all such expenditures and activities.
The freeze was strictly enforced and continually communicated to all managers at the company.On November 26th, we replaced the moratorium with a new policy that is appropriate to Fannie Mae's current circumstances. It includes new restrictions and supervisory controls on gifts and entertainment whether provided by or offered to any company employee.The new policy was reviewed and approved by our federal regulator and Conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The policy will be strictly enforced.Let me assure you that our management team is constantly striving to serve the public interest more efficiently and effectively and gratefully welcomes ideas on how we can perform better.Please contact me if you have questions.Sincerely,Herbert M. Allison, Jr.
Today, Congressman Hensarling responded to Fannie Mae's new policy, saying "Mr. Allison expressed regret about the September golf outing and promised financial accountability within his organization. I appreciate Mr. Allison taking responsibility for the mistake and am satisfied with the decision to cease all recreational spending. I also want to thank Chairman Frank for his immediate attention to the matter. Congress will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that no more taxpayer money is wasted by the mortgage giant."
Today, Congressman Hensarling responded to Fannie Mae's new policy, saying "Mr. Allison expressed regret about the September golf outing and promised financial accountability within his organization. I appreciate Mr. Allison taking responsibility for the mistake and am satisfied with the decision to cease all recreational spending. I also want to thank Chairman Frank for his immediate attention to the matter. Congress will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that no more taxpayer money is wasted by the mortgage giant."
No comments:
Post a Comment