The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has apparently ignored its previously announced plans to cap the pay for government-sponsored enterprise executive salaries at $500,000 by announcing that Donald H. Layton, the newly appointed Freddie Mac CEO, will receive a $600,000 salary.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Layton has entered into a memorandum agreement with the FHFA that will provide him with an annual base salary of $600,000. The SEC filing states that the FHFA has ‘approved this memorandum agreement and consulted with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’ on Layton's salary.
The SEC filing appears to contradict an FHFA announcement in March that executive pay at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was capped at $500,000. The FHFA and its acting director, Edward DeMarco, were under intensive criticism last year for providing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives with compensation packages that reached into the seven-digit level.
The FHFA did not issue a public statement regarding Layton's salary and its decision to raise the previously stated salary limit for his position.