Freddie director confident restatement out in Nov

Forbes/Reuters ^

[Starwind]

Freddie director confident restatement out in Nov
Reuters, 10.16.03, 2:08 PM ET

WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A director of embattled mortgage finance company Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people) said on Thursday an earnings restatement, which was delayed from the end of last month, is likely to be complete in November.

"I am quite confident that it will be November," Freddie Mac board of directors member George Gould said at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

An accounting scandal at Freddie Mac rattled investors in June. The company said it underreported earnings between 2000-2002 by $4.5 billion or more.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

[Starwind]

Hey, next month for sure. How much more confident could the guy get?

They are keeping this story under the radar...

[Starwind]

Fyi...

[Starwind]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/988536/posts

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was due to make public at the end of September the results of its inquiry into an accounting scandal at Freddie Mac, a spokeswoman said. The report will now be out in either early or mid-October, she said.

[Starwind]

Freddie Mac/Restatement Annual Results For Last 3 Yrs

Freddie Mac will provide a further update on the restatement process, which is "progressing well," in late April.

[Starwind]

I doubt the restatement is 'unfinsihed'. I'm guessing it's probably complete, but because of Freddie's exposure to Euro/Dollar interest rate swaps, which have been volatile of late, I suspect they keep recomputing the restatement to reflect changes in their hedges?

If they can't quantify their results, how do they manage their operations?

[sourcery]

Maybe if they keep pushing the report out into the future, it will finally be seen as 'old news.' Or even just forgotten.

[steveegg]

If Freddie Mac weren't a government entity, the board of directors would be doing the perp walk. Imagine a private company like, say, Enron saying "You know that 3-year funds readjustment that we were supposed to have done last month and said we would have done this month? We'll have it done next month."

IMHO, they're waiting for something positive to happen.

[Starwind]

If Freddie Mac weren't a government entity, the board of directors would be doing the perp walk.

Exactly! SEC auditors would be all over them like ducks on a June bug.

IMHO, they're waiting for something positive to happen.

I have to agree.

[razorback-bert]

"I am quite confident that it will be November,"

I notice he didn't mention the year.

[Starwind]

Maybe if they keep pushing the report out into the future, it will finally be seen as 'old news.' Or even just forgotten.

Or maybe they anticipate causing a 3-5 pct drop in the markets and they're hoping to start as high as possible.

[imawit]

IMHO, they're waiting for something positive to happen.

Me too.

Guess it's a well known operation that they're using swaps against the EURO. Both Noland & Mauldin chirped in on it on Friday.

Not only may they be waiting for good news, they maybe padding their own butts financially and legally. Let's also see who they pick up to champion their cause.

[AdamSelene235]

This is getting ridiculous.....

Freddie Mac could miss November restatement target

Monday October 20, 6:50 pm ET

SAN DIEGO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News), under fire due to an accounting scandal, could miss its November target to deliver the restatement of its earnings, a top company executive said on Monday.

"I can't say definitely that it will be done because the external auditors still have to do their final reviews and all that has to occur before we can release the information," said Freddie Mac Chief Operating Officer Paul Peterson.

While not offering a 100 percent guarantee to meet the latest restatement schedule, Peterson said Freddie Mac is "reasonably confident" that the nation's No. 2 mortgage finance company will make the November time frame.

Peterson was speaking at a press luncheon at a conference here organized by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

Last week, George Gould, a Freddie Mac board member, told a Senate panel that he was "quite confident" that the earnings restatement, which has been delayed several times already, would be complete in November.

"In some sense, you can't ever be certain at all that it will be done in November because there are reviews that have to take place just like (it) took place at the end of September," Peterson said. "Still, who knows what the external auditors will find? Or what our own accountants will find in that review process of the final numbers?" he added.

Freddie Mac rattled financial markets earlier this year after it admitted to accounting irregularities that could force the company to upwardly revise its earnings by more than $4.5 billion going back to 2000.

The accounting scandal intensified scrutiny of the company and the other mortgage finance agencies, including Freddie Mac's bigger rival Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System.

Leading Republican lawmakers and the Bush Administration have called for stronger oversight over all three government- sponsored enterprises, including a new regulator that would fall under control of the Treasury Department. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are companies whose stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) . But they are congressionally chartered entities, set up to buy loans from banks and other mortgage lenders to provide the market liquidity for financing for Americans to buy homes.

[Starwind]

Dateline - January 9, 2004 Washington DC (Reuters)

Recently appointed CEO Greg Parseghian appearing before the Senate Banking Committee stated in his opening remarks:

"Ya know, it's the damndest thing. There I was getting ready to leave the house, I reached for our completed restatements, and wouldn't ya just know the dog had it in his mouth like it was the morning paper. Go figure, huh fellas. ....Fellas?

[Tauzero]

The way I heard it was he was on his way to the bingo parlor at the YMCA, the directions got all fouled up, and one thing led to another...