For example, in the late 1970s, HUD tried to withhold approval of the mortgage-backed securities program until Fannie Mae increased its lower- income lending, Mr. Stanton said. The delay interfered with Fannie Mae's effort to deal with the risk of funding long-term holdings with short-term debt. And the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, which regulated Freddie Mac, used Freddie to engage in financially unsound transactions to help insolvent thrifts, he said. For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the issue underlines the tension between the agencies' government franchise and stockholder ownership. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owe their existence to a congressional charter, but are owned by stockholders. In other words, they answer to two masters. The larger public policy question, Mr. Stanton said, is how to reconcile changing priorities in housing policy at HUD with the need for consistent profits for stockholders.