Regulator to Split Roles at Freddie and Fannie

The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac intends to bar the chief executives of the two biggest U.S. mortgage finance companies from simultaneously serving as chairmen, the regulator’s deputy director said.

The restriction, aimed at ensuring independent corporate boards at the government-chartered companies, “will probably be proposed as a regulation,” said Stephen Blumenthal, deputy director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

The regulator also is advocating term limits for company directors.