Fannie Mae CEO’s dating spurs firing call

The inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said the regulator should consider firing Federal National Mortgage Association Chief Executive Officer Timothy Mayopoulos for not properly disclosing he was dating a senior executive at a bank that does business with the mortgagefinance giant.

The recommendation was outlined in a letter that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent Wednesday to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, who leads the regulator of the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae. Chaffetz, R-Utah, questioned whether Watt planned to discipline Mayopoulos, as was advised by the regulator’s watchdog, the letter shows.

The inspector general made the recommendation after investigating a romantic relationship between Mayopoulos and the former chief legal officer of Fifth Third Bancorp, according to Chaffetz’s letter. The bank’s top lawyer, whom Chaffetz didn’t name, disclosed the relationship to her bosses in July and was fired shortly thereafter.

Last year, Fifth Third removed Heather Russell as its chief legal officer, with a spokesman saying at the time that the Cincinnati-based bank did so after learning of a personal matter that posed a conflict of interest.

Fannie Mae buys loans from lenders, packages them into securities and guarantees payment in case of default. While Fannie Mae buys Fifth Third mortgages, the purchases represent a relatively small part of its business.