Freddie Mac's Chief Operating Officer Resigns

By NICK TIMIRAOS

Freddie Mac said that its chief operating officer, Bruce Witherell, resigned from the company on Wednesday.

In a federal filing, the company said Mr. Witherell left for "personal reasons" and that his departure was effective immediately. Mr. Witherell won't receive any termination benefits.

Mr. Witherell joined Freddie nearly 18 months ago, filling a position that had been vacant for two years. He had previously headed Morgan Stanley's residential-mortgage business and before that spent 15 years at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Freddie Mac went through a year-long stretch of heavy turnover at the executive level after the company was taken over by the federal government in 2008. At one point, John Koskinen, the current chairman of the board, served as the acting chief executive and the acting chief financial officers.

Efforts to attract and retain top managers at Freddie and its larger sibling, Fannie Mae, have been stymied by salary restrictions that are modest relative to comparable to private sector pay and by the fact that the firm's federal overseers have effective veto rights over major decisions.

Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com