Supreme Court Rejects Fannie-Freddie Investors on US Profit-Taking

The US Supreme Court turned away four appeals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders who said they were entitled to compensation after the Treasury collected more than $100 billion in profits from the government-sponsored enterprises.

(Bloomberg) — The US Supreme Court turned away four appeals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders who said they were entitled to compensation after the Treasury collected more than $100 billion in profits from the government-sponsored enterprises.

The investors argued unsuccessfully that the so-called profit sweep, part of the 2012 agreements that modified the government’s bailout of the companies, was an unconstitutional taking of private property.

The Supreme Court made no comment in leaving intact a federal appeals court decision that tossed out the lawsuits, including one pressed by Fairholme Funds Inc. and W.R. Berkley Corp.

The rebuff follows a 2021 Supreme Court decision rejecting the bulk of a separate investor lawsuit that used other legal arguments to try to invalidate the profit sweep.

The rejection is a victory for the Biden administration, which urged the Supreme Court to turn down the appeals without granting a hearing.

The cases are Owl Creek Asia I v. United States, 22-97; Cacciapalle v. United States, 22-98; Barrett v. United States, 22-99; and Fairholme Funds v. United States, 22-100.

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