Fannie Mae Names Audit Chief

Fannie Mae (FNM), which is restating its earnings for the past four years because of accounting issues, said S. Jean Hinrichs will join the government-sponsored mortgage finance company in July as chief audit executive.

In a press release Monday, Fannie Mae said Hinrichs will be responsible for conducting a thorough risk assessment and then designing and developing a comprehensive audit program.

She will also prepare and present the annual audit plan to the audit committee, provide periodic updates on the status and overall operation of the audit department, and inform and advise the audit committee and top management.

She will also work with Deloitte & Touche, the company's independent external auditors, and its regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Under Hinrichs, Fannie Mae's internal audit department will provide oversight to the firm's operating units and test their compliance with corporate standard operating procedures and other operating and corporate accounting policies. She will also work with executives to meet the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley and to design tests to ensure that internal controls are effective.

Hinrichs was with Barclays Global Investors in San Francisco from 1997 through 2004. From 1993 to 1996, she was vice president and general auditor of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

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