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Freddie Mac plea for £9bn
14.11.08
Stricken US mortgage lender Freddie Mac today asked for $13.8 billion (£9.4 billion) of taxpayers' money after it reported record losses.
Freddie Mac, which with fellow state-backed lender Fannie Mae, has been one of the world's biggest casualties from the subprime mortgage catastrophe, said third-quarter net losses spiralled to $25.3 billion.
The Treasury seized control of the firms in September when they sank under the weight of writedowns in the value of their mortgage assets. Now they are begging for funds to keep them liquid.
