Snow: 'Big Misunderstanding' Over Portfolios

Treasury Secretary John Snow says there is a "big misunderstanding" that the Bush administration wants a fixed limit on the size of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolios.The Treasury Department does not want a dollar or capital limit on the portfolios of the two government-sponsored enterprises, the secretary told an America's Community Bankers conference in Washington. He stressed that the Treasury wants Congress to put in place a strong and competent GSE regulator to make a determination on the appropriate size of the portfolios. "Any fair analysis" would indicate that the current size of the portfolios is "much, much larger" than needed for the GSEs to carry out their statutory mission, Secretary Snow said. He added that he hopes there will be some movement this spring in moving GSE legislation.