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Freddie Mac Receives Delisting Notice

TSC Staff

Freddie Mac (FRE Quote) has received a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

The mortgage giant's average closing price over the past 30 days has been below $1 a share, one of the Big Board's criterion for delisting. The company's common and preferred shares are subject to delisting unless the company notifies the exchange of its plans to cure the deficiency by Dec. 2.

If the company chooses to attempt to address the problem, it would have six months from Nov. 17 to get its average share price above $1.

Freddie had 647.02 million shares outstanding, according to its most recent quarterly report.

Fellow government sponsored entity Fannie Mae (FNM Quote) received a similar notice Share holders of the two companies were essentially wiped out when the federal government placed them both in conservatorship in September.

Major banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) and Wells Fargo (WFC Quote) as well as smaller banks and thrifts like Sovereign (SOV Quote) and Westamerica (ABC Quote), which owned common and preferred shares in the two mortgage giants, were forced to write off billions of dollars worth of stock.

The government's next move will be to determine the next step for Fannie and Freddie. They could be converted into government agencies; continue as publicly held companies with restrictions to try and prevent another disaster; or be split along business lines, with the pieces sold off as new, private companies with no government backing.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last month said some form of federal backing of the two companies would probably be necessary.