Clinton Names Alvarez as New Leader of SBA

President Clinton has turned to the head of a watchdog agency for the nation’s two largest mortgage companies to run the Small Business Administration.

Clinton on Friday nominated Aida Alvarez, 47, a former investment banker, to replace Philip Lader, 50. Lader, who fought efforts by conservative congressmen to kill the SBA, is leaving the post after more than two years.

Alvarez was appointed in 1993 to create the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which oversees the Federal National Mortgage Assn. (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac). Both are privately held, federally chartered companies that buy mortgages in the secondary market.

Alvarez, a native of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and a graduate of Harvard, is a former journalist and public relations official. She then worked as an investment banker for seven years with The First Boston Corp. and Bear Stearns.

Alvarez’s appointment must be approved by the U.S. Senate.

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