Freddie Restructures MBS Ops

Freddie Mac has restructured certain mortgage securities operations, chiefly by ending the market-making activities of its Securities Sales & Trading Group unit and transferring the unit's mortgage sourcing and investment operations to other business units, according to the government-sponsored enterprise.Freddie said the restructuring, aimed at focusing on its core mission, also includes the discontinuation of its Money Manager program, through which it designated eight investment advisers to manage part of its capital under prescribed guidelines. The GSE said it will continue "active support" for the liquidity of its mortgage securities through its securitization and investment business activities. A Freddie Mac spokesman said he couldn't comment on whether the 100 people employed by the unit might be redeployed or laid off. Redeployment of the unit's functions appears to be both viable and a smart move in the context of Freddie's mission and its business strategies, according to Linda Lowell, a mortgage-backed securities researcher who is familiar with the unit's role in the market. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.