New Fannie CEO Has Bank Baggage

Fannie Mae named its general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, as its next chief executive officer after he agreed to a sharp pay cut imposed by the mortgage-finance company's federal regulator.

Mr. Mayopoulos joined Fannie in April 2009 as general counsel and later added the position of chief administrative officer. His promotion to CEO caps a remarkable turnaround for the financial-services lawyer, who was unexpectedly fired by Bank of America Corp. as its general counsel on the eve of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2008 to make room...