2020 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

Online > Online Breaking News Coverage > Mid Atlantic

Awarded to

Hannah Lang, Staff Reporter
Joe Adler, Washington Bureau Chief

Entry details

The uncertain futures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Issue or publication date: April 2019-November 2019
Publication name: American Banker
Publishing company: SourceMedia
Website home page: www.americanbanker.com

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

American Banker is the essential resource for senior executives in banking and financial services, keeping its users updated on vital developments and focusing sharply on their most important concerns — innovation, transformation, and disruption; technology, regulation, and reform. Financial industry professionals turn to American Banker, every day and throughout the day, to stay maximally informed — drilling down on complex issues, keeping up with breaking news, and downloading research and data. Paid subscribers and registered visitors engage deeply with an authoritative community of analysts, practitioners and innovators through opinion content, research panels, social media, and live events.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

One of the thorniest issues still unresolved from the financial crisis is what to do about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants placed in government conservatorship in 2008.

In 2019, the Trump administration began the process of returning them to the private sector, and American Banker’s coverage was ahead of the competition every step of the way.

In April, shortly after he was sworn in as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria sat down with reporter Hannah Lang to discuss the future he envisioned for the two companies and how he wanted to reform the mortgage industry in general. The interview was widely cited by analysts for its breadth and Calabria’s candid answers.

In July, Lang interviewed several experts on the political risks involved in tackling the Fannie-Freddie issue ahead of the presidential election versus failing to act while the economy is still strong.

In early September, she published a thorough same-day analysis of Treasury’s 53-page report on recommended reforms to the system, an article retweeted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren to her 5.5 million followers on Twitter. Lang then interviewed a host of housing experts on the likelihood that any of the proposals would become reality.

Finally, AB released a two-part podcast that discussed whether the administration could reform the housing sector without Congress’s help. Lang’s coverage demonstrates why American Banker is one of the most trusted news sources on a topic vital to the entire financial industry.

Links to entry URLs

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Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/calabrias-ambitious-fhfa-agenda-its-not-just-gse-reform
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/a-gse-plan-before-the-election-has-risks-but-so-does-doing-nothing
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-trump-administration-would-reform-fannie-mae-freddie-mac
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/did-treasurys-gse-report-move-the-needle

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