Federal National Mortgage Association · Washington, DC United States ·(NYSE: FNM)

The Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, has helped more than 50 million low- to middle-income families realize the American Dream. Like its brother Freddie Mac, the government-supported enterprise (GSE) provides liquidity in the mortgage market by buying mortgages from lenders and packaging them for resale, transferring risk from lenders and allowing them to offer mortgages to those who may not otherwise qualify. The company owns or guarantees about $3.1 trillion in home loans, or more than a quarter of all outstanding mortgages in the US. Due to losses caused largely by the subprime mortgage crisis, the federal government seized both Fannie and Freddie in September 2008. To read the full description, subscribe now.