LAW FEBRUARY 21, 2012, 11:26 P.M. ET Watchdog Rebukes Fannie, Freddie Over Legal Bills

U.S. government regulators haven’t done enough to limit the more than $100 million in legal fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are paying on behalf of executives who departed in accounting scandals, a federal watchdog said. The two mortgage-finance companies have been spending tens of millions of dollars fighting securities lawsuits and other litigation on behalf of former executives, bills that have piled up even after the companies were seized by federal regulators in September 2008. Lawmakers have been critical of the companies’ regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for allowing those payments. Read Wall Street Journal report here.