Freddie Mac seeks new $1.8bn bailout

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac has asked for $1.8bn in assistance from the US Government after it suffered its fourth consecutive quarterly loss on continued bad home loans.

The second-largest mortgage finance company in the US, Freddie says it would call on the US Treasury for funding after a $4.7bn net loss in the second quarter. It follows larger agency Fannie Mae last week asking for an additional $1.5bn in aid from the Treasury after reporting a $1.2bn Q2 net loss. In total, the two companies have sought almost $150bn in Government funding. Freddie and Fannie Mae were bailed out by the US Government during the height of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008. Together the groups own or guarantee more than half of the $11trn US residential debt market....