Fannie Mae to Postpone Weekly Benchmark Bills Auction in Deference to Patriot Day.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2002

Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM
FNM Free National Movement (Bahamas)
FNM Foot and Mouth ), the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages, today announced it will postpone next week's regularly scheduled Benchmark Bills(SM) auctions in deference to September 11 Patriot Day memorial events.

Fannie Mae will announce as planned the size of each auction for each Benchmark Bills maturity mid-morning Monday, September 9. Next week, the company will conduct the auctions Thursday instead of Wednesday. Fannie Mae will accept bids starting at 8:30 a.m. ET and closing at 9:30 a.m.

"In recognition of the first anniversary of September 11, we have decided to postpone for a day our scheduled Benchmark Bills auctions," said Linda Knight, Fannie Mae's senior vice president and treasurer. "The postponement will not affect Fannie Mae's portfolio funding or future debt securities issuance."

Additionally, the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ have announced delayed openings on September 11. Trading will begin at 11:00 a.m. and run through normal closing at 4:00 p.m. The bond markets will open as scheduled, but close at 2:00 p.m.

Fannie Mae conducts Dutch auctions, or single price auctions, on a weekly basis accepting both competitive and non-competitive bids through a web based auction system. On each Monday, the company publicly announces the size of each auction for each Benchmark Bills maturity as well as the time the bids are due. Announcements are made during mid-morning Eastern Time (ET).

Fannie Mae typically conducts the actual Dutch auction on Wednesdays and provides the results to the market.

Benchmark Bills are unsecured general obligations that are issued in book-entry form through the Federal Reserve Banks. There are no periodic payments of interest on Benchmark Bills, which are sold at a discount from the principal amount and payable at par at maturity.

Since the introduction of Benchmark Bills in November 1999, Fannie Mae has consistently issued Benchmark Bills into the market every week. More information on Benchmark Bills and Fannie Mae Auction System Technology is available on www.fanniemae.com.

This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to buy any of these securities. Any such offering will be made only by an offering circular and supplement thereto.

Fannie Mae is a New York Stock Exchange company and the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal charter and is the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages.

Fannie Mae is working to shrink the nation's "homeownership gaps" through a $2 trillion "American Dream Commitment" to increase homeownership rates and serve 18 million targeted American families by the end of the decade. Since 1968, Fannie Mae has provided $4 trillion of mortgage financing for more than 45 million families.

More information about Fannie Mae can be found on the Internet at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Benchmark Bills is a service mark of Fannie Mae. Unauthorized use of this mark is prohibited.

Style Usage: Fannie Mae's Board of Directors has authorized the company to operate as "Fannie Mae," and the company's stock is now listed on the NYSE as "Fannie Mae." In order to facilitate clarity and avoid confusion, news organizations are asked to refer to the company exclusively as "Fannie Mae."