NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 17, 2001-- Standard&Poor's today assigned its double-'A'-minus rating to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.'s (Freddie Mac) subordinated debt securities (SUBS) program. The rating reflects Freddie Mac's stable core profitability measures, low credit risk profile, and disciplined approach to managing interest rate risk. The company maintains a high level of liquidity due to its broad access to the capital markets as a government-sponsored enterprise. Asset quality measures are strong, with credit risk mitigated by the broad geographic diversification of its portfolio and conservative underwriting practices. Freddie Mac's revenues have become more interest-rate sensitive as the company has steadily grown the retained mortgage portfolio and the net interest margin has declined slightly. Offsetting
