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Freddie Mac's board of directors has selected Charles E. Haldeman Jr., a top executive at Putnam Investments, to be its next chief executive, according to a source familiar with the matter. "He's the leading candidate," said the source. The nomination has been sent to its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has yet to act on the pick. Mr. Haldeman would replace John Koskinen, a former Clinton Administration official. Mr. Koskinen replaced David Moffett who took control of the GSE when the government placed it into conservatorship this past fall. In other company news, the GSE said in a new regulatory filing that it received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities. Counting the new infusion, the Treasury Department, to date, has given the GSE $51.7 billion to keep its net worth above zero.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has elected Jim Pair to be its president for 2009-2010. The announcement came at the trade group's midyear meeting in San Antonio. Mr. Pair, who is from Corpus Christi, Texas, succeeds Marc Savitt, who remains as an officer of the group as immediate past president. The new president-elect is William Howe, Scottsdale, Ariz., who moves up from vice president. The brokerage industry is facing an uphill battle for survival thanks to the credit crisis and the blame placed on third-party originators for poor credit quality. Wholesale production now accounts for about 15% of all fundings compared to 28% three years ago, according to National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

Brenda White, an investment banker who brokered some of the largest mortgage-related M&A deals of the past 15 years, died Sunday after a two-year battle with a rare form of cancer. Born in Monmouth County, N.J., in 1954, she is survived by her husband Tim and a daughter, Adrienne. Ms. White began her career at Dun & Bradstreet, and eventually worked at MBS pioneer Salomon Brothers. In 1994 she was named managing director, head of investment banking to the mortgage industry. According to a statement released by her family, her promotion at Salomon was "perhaps her proudest professional achievement." During her career she also held M&A advisory positions and worked at UBS and Deloitte & Touche before starting her own M&A boutique. Over the years she authored several M&A related articles in industry trade publications including NMN sister publications Mortgage Servicing News and American Banker.

The Senate has confirmed Herbert Allison by voice vote to be a Treasury assistant secretary and run the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which is providing loans and capital to stabilize banks, insurance companies and automakers. The former Fannie Mae president and chief executive also will oversee the Obama administration's loan modification program. TARP is providing funds for incentive payments and to cover some of the costs of the modifications. During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Allison told the Senate Banking Committee there is a "great deal of pressure on everyone" to get the Making Home Affordable program going. He stressed that efforts to reach out and contact troubled homeowners will be critical to its success. "People are fearful about losing their homes; fearful of contacting their bank or servicer to describe their problem — for fear that it is going cause a foreclosure on their house," he testified. Prior to his brief stint at Fannie Mae, Mr. Allison was chairman, president and CEO at TIAA-CREF.

Former Sovereign Bank chairman and chief executive officer Jay Sidhu has been named chairman and CEO of New Century Bank, Phoenixville, Pa. Mr. Sidhu, who left Sovereign in 2006, has since been working as industry consultant and also set up a private equity firm called Sidhu Capital Partners. Spain's Madrid-based Banco Santander currently owns Sovereign.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., has a new chairman and a new acting chief executive as the incumbents in those positions lost their reelection bids and seats on the company's board. George J. Kilroy is taking the acting chief executive officer post, replacing president and CEO Terence W. Edwards. Mr. Edwards will serve as an advisor to the company for up to six months. The board will conduct a search for a permanent president and CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates. Mr. Kilroy is president and CEO of PHH Arval, the company's fleet management services business. Replacing A.B. Krongard as chairman is James O. Egan. Mr. Egan was first named to the board on March 30 and won a full-three year term in the recent election. He was a managing director of Investcorp International Inc. between 1998 and 2008. Investcorp is the parent company of SourceMedia, which owns National Mortgage News.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is losing yet another lobbyist, the second such departure in the past week. The trade group confirmed to NMN that Meghan Sullivan, who specializes in state mortgage-related legislation, will be leaving at the end of June. She holds the title of director of state legislative affairs. Her departure leaves MBA with just one manager to oversee state bills: Chris Oswald. The trade group said it has lobbyist/consultants "on the ground" to represent it in state capitals. "These are not staff people but consultants," she said. Earlier this week it was revealed that Francis Creighton, MBA's liaison on Capital Hill, was leaving to take a job with a Congressman. MBA will hire a replacement for Ms. Sullivan.

The nomination of David Stevens to be the new Federal Housing Administration commissioner appears to be in limbo while HUD investigates a RESPA complaint against his previous employer. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is conducting an investigation of Long & Foster — a mid-Atlantic real estate brokerage firm — for possible Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act violations. At a Senate Banking Committee meeting this past week, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., noted the HUD investigation is ongoing. "We don't know who is involved or what. We are waiting to see what comes out of the investigations," Sen. Shelby said. Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the nominee "comes highly recommended" for the FHA post. During his career Mr. Stevens also worked in executive positions at Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo Home Loans. Sen. Dodd urged caution and indicated he would like a bipartisan vote in moving the nomination along for confirmation by the full Senate. HUD general counsel Helen Kanovsky told Senators Dodd and Shelby in a letter that the RESPA complaints filed against Long & Foster neither "names nor alleges the personal involvement of David Stevens."

Former Freddie Mac chief executive Gregory J. Parseghian is one of two dissident candidates to win election to the board of PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J. Mr. Parseghian was a nominee submitted by Pennant Capital Management LLC, Chatham, N.J., which owns just under 10% of PHH's stock. The other candidate Pennant supported, Allan Z. Loren, also was elected; Pennant materials describe him as an executive coach to CEOs and as the former chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet. The pair defeated A.B. Krongard, who had been PHH's chairman, and Terence W. Edwards, its president and CEO. Reelected to the board is James O. Egan, the audit committee chairman. Pennant Capital Management LLC is an investment advisor that was founded by Alan Fournier in 2001.

Former Freddie Mac chief executive Gregory J. Parseghian is one of two dissident candidates to win election to the board of PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J. Mr. Parseghian was a nominee submitted by Pennant Capital Management LLC, Chatham, N.J., which owns just under 10% of PHH's stock. The other candidate Pennant supported, Allan Z. Loren, also was elected; Pennant materials describe him as an executive coach to CEOs and as the former chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet. The pair defeated A.B. Krongard, who had been PHH's chairman, and Terence W. Edwards, its president and CEO. Reelected to the board is James O. Egan, the audit committee chairman. Pennant Capital Management LLC is an investment advisor that was founded by Alan Fournier in 2001.