Fannie Bans Stock Sales/Buys by Workers

Fannie Mae, which is in the process of restating three years' worth of earnings, has told its 5,000 employees that they can no longer buy or sell the company's stock.The edict from the congressionally chartered mortgage giant came April 29, a company spokesman said. The ban is expected to be temporary and likely will be lifted once the company works its way through the restatement process. Last fall Fannie barred a handful of employees with access to certain nonpublic information from trading in the stock. In January National Mortgage News reported that as the accounting scandal worsened at the government-sponsored enterprise, company insiders -- including top officers and directors -- unloaded thousands of shares. In the preceding six months insiders sold 91,000 shares, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Edgar Online system.