Senate votes to suspend Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac CEO pay

[September 16, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that would suspend the current compensation for the heads of the government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac following the disclosure of huge pay raises for the officials.

On July 1, the two entities said that Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos and Freddie Mac head Donald Layton will earn $4 million annually, up from their previous salaries of $600,000.

At the time, the pay hikes were opposed by the Obama administration. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, said the lower pay caps hindered efforts to develop reliable CEO succession plans.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Jason Lange; Editing by Will Dunham)

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