Freddie Mac 2005 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Clearly, much more needs to be done. Our most urgent task is to do everything it takes
to ensure that our internal controls and accounting systems are of the same high caliber
as our financial risk management and reporting. There is no higher priority for Freddie
Mac’s senior management than completing this work and becoming timely in our financial
reporting. This company must become the standard of excellence not only for managing
mortgage risk, but for the accounting and internal controls associated with it.
Over the past year, Congress has worked to overhaul regulatory oversight of the housing
GSEs, and we have supported this effort in a constructive way. Last fall, acting on a broad
bipartisan basis, the U.S. House of Representatives passed tough legislation to enhance
GSE oversight. This tough bill goes well beyond current banking law in a number of areas.
Going forward, we will continue to support federal legislation that strengthens regulatory
oversight and allows us to fulfill our mission.
As part of the ongoing policy discussion, we made good progress last year in publicly
articulating the value and vital role of the GSEs. That includes how we insulate households
from interest-rate risk and transfer it out to the capital markets; how we provide stability,
liquidity and affordability in good times and bad; and how we harness market means —
and private capital — to achieve a public mission.
As Freddie Mac stockholders, you share a vital role in making home possible for millions of
families. So when I pledge to you that I will finish the job of making a strong franchise run
better than ever, that is not a diversion from my mission responsibilities. It is an expression
of those responsibilities.
And it is a promise I intend to keep. n
Sincerely,
Richard F. Syron
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer