Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are preparing to hand out $210 million in taxpayer-funded retention bonuses to 7,600 employees. No bonus will exceed $1.5 million, but more than half of all Freddie and Fannie employees will receive an average bonus exceeding $24,000.

The maximum bonus for any employee will be $1.5 million, the regulator said. Freddie’s bonuses are going to 80 percent of its employees, while Fannie’s are going to 61 percent of its employees.

Ninety-two Freddie employees will receive $100,000 or more in 2009 and 121 Fannie employees will get bonuses of $100,000 or more. The FHFA declined to name the recipients, citing privacy concerns.

At Fannie Mae, chief operating officer Michael Williams is in line for a $1.3 million bonus, according to regulatory disclosures. Deputy chief financial officer David Hisey is slated for $1.1 million, while executive vice presidents Thomas Lund, responsible for the mortgage business, and Kenneth Bacon, responsible for housing and community development, are each in line for $1 million.

The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the housing regulator that approved the bonuses, says that they are needed to keep the klutzes who ruined our housing market from ruining something new.

And you thought AIG’s $165 million in bonuses were bad…

Fannie, Freddie Budget $210 Million On Bonuses, Draw Lawmakers’ Fire [The Washington Post]

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