Freddie Mac Names Bruce Witherell Chief Operating Officer

Freddie Mac (McLean, Va.) has appointed mortgage industry veteran Bruce M. Witherell, as chief operating officer effective September 14. He will oversee and ensure effective integration across the company's three business lines -- Single Family Credit Guarantee, Multifamily Sourcing and Investments and Capital Markets -- as well as its Operations and Technology division. Witherell will report to CEO Charles E. Haldeman, Jr.

Previously, Witherell was managing director and global co-head of the residential mortgage business at Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for the residential mortgage origination and servicing platforms, mortgage operations in the United States, England, Italy, Japan and Russia, and global trading. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, Witherell spent 15 years at Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. in a variety of senior leadership roles. Prior to his career at Lehman Brothers, Witherell held management positions at the First Boston Corp. and Household Finance Corp.

"To accomplish Freddie Mac's mission and business goals, we must make sure that the company is running at the highest levels of efficiency and operational excellence," Haldeman said. "I have asked Bruce -- an experienced executive with demonstrated expertise in mortgages and capital markets, superb leadership skills and management experience -- to join Freddie Mac's strong management team and help us execute our many functions and focus on the right objectives."

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio