'Activist' New Century Director Departs

David Einhorn, considered to be an "activist" shareholder of the struggling New Century Financial Corp., resigned from the company late Wednesday night, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The resignation comes amid rumors that the subprime funder is negotiating a new warehouse line of credit with a major Wall Street firm to avoid being in violation of its warehouse covenants. As of MortgageWire's deadline, the company could not be reached for comment. Mr. Einhorn's hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, owns 3.49 million shares of New Century, or 6.3% of the company. Over the past week New Century's share price has plunged, causing huge paper losses for Greenlight. The subprime giant's stock now trades at just over $5, compared with a 52-week high of almost $52. New Century is the focus of a criminal probe by the U.S. attorney's office in central California regarding trading in the company's securities and errors tied to its accounting for loan repurchases.