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Mortgage giant woes a "unique situation": NYSE CEO

Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY, Missouri
Tue Sep 9, 2008 5:59pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer said on Tuesday the group was working with regulators to determine whether or not to delist troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Niederauer said no decision was imminent a day after shares in the finance companies fell in heavy trading below the key $1 threshold on the New York Stock Exchange following news of the U.S. government takeover.

"We have to evaluate the company and work with regulators and the government. We have to do a lot of work to figure it out but not to do it hastily," Niederauer said. "It is a very, very unique situation that I think has a lot of ramifications. There is no decision we're close to announcing."

Niederauer, who spoke on the sidelines of a conference in Kansas City, said the exchange has been focused on orchestrating orderly trading in the companies.

The U.S. government takeover came as worries heightened over shrinking capital at the congressionally chartered companies, which had combined losses of nearly $14 billion the last four quarters. Together, they back about half the country's $12 trillion in home mortgages.

(Editing by Brian Moss)


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