A Fox guards the henhouse?
Dow Jones Business News
OFHEO Pick Brickell Worth At Least $5 Mln
Friday July 11, 5:19 pm ET
By Rob Wells, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Wall Street veteran picked to head Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator, Mark C. Brickell, has an investment portfolio worth at least $5 million, including holdings in two critics of the mortgage giants.
Brickell, chief executive officer of the electronic derivatives exchange Blackbird Holdings Inc., was nominated by President George W. Bush in February as director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or OFHEO. The Office of Government Ethics on Friday released a summary of Brickell's financial holdings, which appointees to top executive branch offices are required to provide.
The summary, which contains general ranges of asset values and not particular amounts, said Brickell has stocks, mutual funds and other assets worth between $ 5 million and $16 million. They include investments in General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) and American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG - News) , two companies active in the debate to strengthen regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .
Brickell's investments in these companies, held in an individual retirement account with nearly 80 other securities, each was valued between $1,001 and $15, 000.
Brickell, 5O, became wealthy during his career as a trader and lobbyist for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , where he worked from 1975 and rose to become a managing director.
The financial disclosure form lists Brickell's major holdings as including between $1 million and $5 million in J.P. Morgan Chase common stock and a similar amount in a Charles Schwab NY Muni Money Fund.
He also will receive a deferred compensation payment of $132,212 through 2023 from a J.P. Morgan Chase employee benefit plan. He keeps at least $100,000 in his checking account, the form said.
Brickell also has a private non-profit foundation, The Brickell Family Foundation, with assets valued at $950,000 in 2001.
While at J.P. Morgan, Brickell emerged as an expert in financial derivatives, contracts that allow companies to hedge against sudden movements in stock, bond or currency prices; speculators also use derivatives to seek profits.
Brickell left J.P. Morgan in July 2001 to head Blackbird, designed to trade derivatives electronically. Brickell listed a Blackbird annual salary of $167, 308.
OFHEO regulates the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A Senate Banking Committee spokesman said a confirmation hearing for the former J.P. Morgan executive could come by the end of the month.
-By Rob Wells, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9272; Rob.Wells@dowjones.com |
