Ousted Fannie Mae execs to get millions

Two top officials of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) have been forced to resign after the discovery of accounting irregularities that will likely lead the home finance giant to restate earnings.

Gone are CEO Franklin D. Raines (left) and CFO J. Timothy Howard, who were apparently terminated by the board under pressure from regulators.  There will almost certainly be a battle over what the two are to get under their employment agreements—the board allowed the pair to retire rather than firing them, which means they’re eligible for millions in benefits.  Raines’s employment contract is here, Howard’s is here.

Raines, a Harvard Law School grad and former Rhodes Scholar who held posts in the Carter and Clinton Administrations, put things in a different light.  He said he was “retiring” because he had promised he would be “accountable” if there were earnings irregularities, and now that there are, he is.