Bush Pulls OFHEO Nomination

The White House has withdrawn the nomination of investment banker and lobbyist Mark Brickell to be the chief regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.At his confirmation hearing this past summer, Mr. Brickell, chief executive of New York-based Blackbird Holdings, received rough treatment from Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, including Sen. Paul Sarbanes, the ranking minority member. The Maryland Democrat voiced concern about Mr. Brickell's lobbying against tighter regulation of derivatives. Sen. Sarbanes also was not pleased that Mr. Brickell backed the notion of allowing Fannie and Freddie to create their own risk-based capital tests. In a brief conversation with MortgageWire, Mr. Brickell declined to comment. Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the banking committee, said the panel in March will begin marking up legislation to strengthen regulation of the GSEs.