Fitch Affirms Fannie's IDR and Debt Ratings

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the triple-A issuer default and senior debt ratings of Fannie Mae and affirmed the other outstanding debt ratings of the government-sponsored enterprise.The actions came in the wake of Fannie Mae's Dec. 5 announcement that it plans to issue $7 billion of nonconvertible preferred stock in December. Fitch affirmed Fannie's preferred stock rating at AA-minus. (That action came on the heels of Fitch's Dec. 4 downgrade of Freddie Mac's preferred stock rating from AA-minus to A-plus following Freddie's $6 billion preferred stock offering.) Fitch said it believes Fannie Mae has been "prudently" managing its balance sheet, retained portfolio purchases, interest rate risk, and credit risk and will continue to do so. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.