MarketWatch
By Jacob Passy

Shares of Fannie Mae FNMA, -7.69% and Freddie Mac FMCC, -7.84% have tripled in value this year as shareholders eagerly welcomed the Trump administration's interest in ending the two mortgage firms' conservatorship.

But a side comment made by a regulator during a congressional hearing Tuesday shows how little is settled when it comes to the fates of the two companies that underpin much of the housing finance market in the United States.

“If the circumstances present itself to where we have to wipe out the shareholders, we will,” Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mark Calabria said during a hearing before the House Financial Service Committee, referring to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's shareholders.

The remark came in an exchange with Rep. Bill Foster, a Democrat from Illinois, who suggested that the plan to recapitalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was benefiting shareholders rather than U.S. taxpayers. Read more.