Fannie Refines Benchmark Programs

Fannie Mae has announced refinements to its Benchmark Securities programs for 2003 and named the members of its core dealer group for Benchmark Notes.The government-sponsored enterprise said it will adopt a flexible syndicate structure for Benchmark Bills auctions under which it will select a core syndicate of 6-10 dealers monthly, while reserving the right to go outside that range. Fannie Mae said it will occasionally engage in buybacks of noncallable Benchmark Securities (except for on-the-run securities in two-, three-, five-, and 10-year maturities), but will limit the buybacks to ensure that a minimum of $4 billion of a specific Benchmark Note and $2 billion of a specific Benchmark Bond will remain outstanding. The members of the GSE's core Benchmark Notes dealer group are: Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.; Credit Suisse First Boston Corp.; Deutsche Bank Securities; FTN Financial Capital Markets; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.; J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.; Lehman Brothers Inc.; Merrill Lynch & Co.; Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.; Salomon Smith Barney Inc.; and UBS Warburg LLC. Fannie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.