Freddie Names Ex-Fed Prez to Lead Firm

Freddie Mac, which has been besieged by an accounting scandal since midyear, has named the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Richard F. Syron, as it new chairman and chief executive.Mr. Syron, who also headed the American Stock Exchange for five years, is the board's pick to lead the secondary-market giant out of the dark days of a scandal that has hammered its reputation, employee morale, and investor confidence. "Freddie Mac is a great company with an important public mission to help make homeownership more affordable for American families," Mr. Syron said in a statement. "I am a strong believer in that mission." Mr. Syron joins the company from the publicly traded Thermo Electron Corp., Waltham, Mass., a manufacturer of high-tech equipment. But Mr. Syron is best known in the mortgage and financial services industries for the years he spent at the Boston Fed (1989 to 1994). It was during this period that banks -- and the New England economy in particular -- were in bad financial shape. In its Dec. 8 issue, National Mortgage News reported that there were two final candidates for CEO: Roger Haughton, CEO of the PMI Group, and an unknown. NMN went to press last Thursday. Freddie made its announcement concerning Mr. Syron Sunday afternoon.