Freddie Mac is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress in 1970 that purchases conventional mortgages from insured depository institutions and HUD-approved mortgage bankers.
Freddie Mac participates in the secondary mortgage market by purchasing mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities for investment and by issuing guaranteed mortgage-related securities. The secondary mortgage market consists of institutions engaged in the buying and selling of mortgages in the form of whole loans (i.e., mortgages that have not been securitized) and mortgage-related securities.