Fannie Mae, the US mortgage financier taken over by the government in September, is planning to pay executive retention bonuses of as much as $611,000 (£428,000) this year in spite of multi-billion dollar losses at the company.

Freddie Mac also has a retention bonus scheme for its executives, but has not yet provided the details of its plans. Freddie is due to disclose the amounts to be paid to its top executives by the end of April, according to a spokesperson for the company.