Freddie Mac names former Wells Fargo legal executive general counsel

Government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac announced the appointment of financial services and consumer law attorney Heidi Mason to executive vice president and general counsel on Monday.

Mason most recently served as partner at ElevateNext Law, a majority-women owned firm based in Chicago whose clients include businesses and corporations nationwide. Before joining ElevateNext, Mason was executive vice president and senior deputy general counsel at Wells Fargo, providing support to the bank’s consumer businesses, and also previously headed its enterprise services legal team, responsible for corporate governance and employment law.

“Heidi brings deep expertise in areas across the legal spectrum, including in mortgage lending, servicing, credit access and regulatory matters, among others,” said Michael DeVito, Freddie Mac CEO. “I have no doubt she quickly will become a valuable member of Freddie Mac’s executive team.”

Mason begins her role at Freddie Mac on March 7. She takes over general-counsel duties from chief administrative officer Jerry Weiss, who had also been serving as the company’s legal head on an interim basis since last March, following the retirement of Ricardo Anzaldut.

In its most recent earnings call, Freddie Mac reported a second straight year of strong profits, with net income coming in at $2.7 billion. But single-family loan purchases slowed in the fourth quarter, a trend expected to continue in 2022.

Mason’s hiring comes following a year when Freddie Mac made several changes to its leadership team, including naming DeVito CEO last spring. The company has also appointed a new chief human resources officer and chief compliance officer in the last nine months.