"U.S. regulators removed limits on the combined $1.5 trillion mortgage portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, enabling the companies to increase financing for the slumping housing market. The asset caps, imposed in 2006 after the two largest mortgage finance companies revealed $11.3 billion of accounting errors, will end on March 1, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said in a statement today. The agency will still require the companies to set aside reserve capital that is 30 percent more than the usual minimum. Unconstrained by portfolio limits, the government-chartered companies may buy more loans and bonds, replacing buyers who fled the market amid the collapse in subprime mortgages." "Ofheo lifted the constraints after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac met a demand that they resume timely reporting by the end of the month.