Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

said on Thursday he would nominate Bill Pulte to be the next

director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

"Bill needs no formal introduction to the Great Citizens of

our Country, because they have seen, and many have experienced,

his philanthropy firsthand," Trump wrote in a post on Truth

Social.

The FHFA regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage

giants that have operated under U.S. government control since

2008. The regulator is expected to play a central role in any

effort to return the pair, which back the majority of the

nation's residential mortgages, to the private sector.

The Trump administration is expected to make ending the

longrunning conservatorship of the pair a priority, after taking

some steps to move them away from government control in his

first term. The current FHFA head, Sandra Thompson, plans to

retire on January 19, one day before Trump's inauguration.

Fannie and Freddie were created by the Congress in 1938

and 1970, respectively, to expand the secondary mortgage market

and promote homeownership by providing access to easy financing.

By packaging mortgages into interest-paying securities

that they then sold to investors, Fannie and Freddie helped

expand the secondary mortgage market and enhance the pool of

capital available for housing. But the subprime mortgage crisis

weighed on their finances, and ultimately led to a government

takeover of the pair that has persisted.

Pulte is a private equity executive and the grandson of

William Pulte, the founder and chairman of U.S. homebuilder

PulteGroup ( PHM ). He also is known for his philanthropic work via

social media. He used the X platform, where he has 3 million

followers, to distribute personal funds and raise money for

people in need.