Ginnie Mae forms risk group, appoints risk officer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Government National Mortgage Association, better known as Ginnie Mae, said on Wednesday it formed a risk management committee and picked a chief risk officer in moves to improve the oversight of its mortgage-backed securities.

The government-owned company appointed Stephen Ledbetter as its chief risk officer. He will set a risk governance structure and offer independent review and oversight of risk management activities, it said.

Ledbetter will retain his role as acting vice president of the Office of Mortgage-Backed Securities.

"The enhancements announced today will help Ginnie Mae keep abreast of the financial condition and program compliance of its issuers, thus minimizing risk to the corporation," it said in a statement.

Ginnie Mae, like Freddie Mac (FRE.N) and Fannie Mae (FRE.N), guarantees pools of home loans that back mortgage bonds. Ginnie Mae MBS are considered safer than Freddie and Freddie MBS because they carry the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Dan Grebler)