Global 500

Fannie Mae made an impressive leap from the No. 270 spot last year to No. 15 this year, but the jump is mostly due to new accounting rules that the Financial Accounting Standards Board put in place in 2010. The troubled mortgage giant is, indeed, still troubled.

Since the New York Stock Exchange de-listed Fannie Mae about a year ago, the company has racked up about $86 billion in debt to U.S. taxpayers. While the federal government may want to wean Fannie Mae and its sister company Freddie Mac off of federal support, both companies have a glut of assets that are going to be difficult to sell.

Fannie Mae reported a net loss of $6.5 billion for the first quarter of 2011, compared to a net income of $73 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company says the loss was due to the dip in home prices, which directly affects its credit-related expenses (of which there are many).

Perhaps new leadership can help steer the company in the right direction. On June 22, Fannie Mae named Susan McFarland, previously of Capital One Financial Corp., as its new CFO -- the third person to take the position at Fannie Mae since the U.S. government bailed the company out three years ago. --S.D.