WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Treasury Department will have to hand over more documents to investors of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac related to its profit sweep of the two government-sponsored enterprises.
Under the 2012 agreement, the GSEs must hand over all profits to the U.S. Treasury, but investors have sued the government, claiming that arrangement is illegal.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency and Treasury department have provided the investors with more than 48,000 documents related to the sweep agreement, but have so far successfully held back other documents it claims are too sensitive to release. On Monday, an appeals court upheld a lower court ruling to release 50 of the remaining 58 net worth documents.
It’s not clear what the documents will reveal, but attorneys for the investors praised the ruling.
"The Appeals Court declared that the government can keep only four under ‘presidential privilege’ and four under ‘deliberative process privilege away from shareholders' lawyers," wrote Investors Unite, a group representing the investors, in a press release.
The Treasury Department could not be reached for comment.
