McLEAN, VA-Freddie Mac dropped a stunner on the mortgage finance community via an unassuming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission: its chief operating officer, Bruce Witherell, has left the firm. The filing cited personal reasons and said that Witherell is not receiving termination benefits. Freddie Mac declined to comment on his departure to GlobeSt.com beyond the filing.

Witherell was named COO in September 2009, tasked with, among other duties, integrating the company’s core business lines. His departure precedes by one day an expected white paper from the White House outlining its vision of the GSEs’ future. Although he is quick to say that he doesn’t have any knowledge of the reasons behind Witherell’s departure, Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker tells GlobeSt.com that it may well foreshadow what the mortgage finance market can expect as reform talks in Washington get underway.

There are a lot of talented people at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who will be trying to second guess where the agencies are headed, says Walker. “They might see that the mortgage finance markets are recovering and if they start to think that the GSEs will be rolled up sooner rather than later, they will start to leave,” he notes. “No one wants to be the last man on the Titanic, so to speak.”

The fact that the White House has produced a white paper is encouraging to market players that wish to see the GSEs remain as they are for a longer period. “A white paper suggests a longer time frame for study,” Walker tells GlobeSt.com. “At the same time, Congress is only just beginning to get its arms around the issue. But while this is good news for those who don’t want to see drastic change in the near term, it also comes without the benefit of a specific timeline, Walker adds--without which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, staffers will become antsy. “The possibility of a brain drain is quite real and I think Witherell’s departure highlights that.”