PEOPLE

JAY-Z NAMED PRESIDENT OF DEF JAM RECORDS

NEW YORK – Jay-Z, who has professed retirement from his rap career, now has a new job to occupy his time – – president of the Def Jam record label.

The appointment, rumored for months, was announced yesterday by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group.

The multiplatinum rapper – whose “The Black Album” was nominated for three Grammys on Tuesday – will take the helm on January 3. He will also continue to run Roc-A-Fella records, which he co-founded with Damon Dash in 1995.

Def Jam, which owned 50% of Roc-A-Fella, also announced yesterday that it had wholly purchased the rap label, whose acts include the 10-time Grammy nominee Kanye West, Cam’ron, and the recently sentenced Beanie Sigel. Terms of that deal were not disclosed. “I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “L.A. Reid and Universal Music Group have given me the opportunity to manage the companies I have contributed to my whole career. I feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community.” Mr. Reid praised Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – for his business acumen and declared him the perfect candidate to lead Def Jam. Its previous president, Kevin Liles, left in July and became executive vice president at Warner Music Group. “I can think of no one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon Def Jam’s fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era.”

– Associated Press

REGULATORY

FANNIE TO GIVE GOVERNMENT $7.5 MILLION OVER BOGUS LOANS

Fannie Mae, the largest source of money for American home mortgages, agreed to give the government $7.5 million after failing to disclose the sale of fraudulent loans by one of its authorized lenders, First Beneficial. “Fannie Mae has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in regard to the First Beneficial forfeiture proceeding,” a company spokesman, Chuck Greener, said in an e-mail statement today. “This agreement brings a swift, appropriate and cooperative end for the United States and Fannie Mae in this matter.” Fannie Mae was ordered by a federal judge in October to forfeit $6.5 million for failing to inform the Government National Mortgage Association, a government agency, about the sale. The U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., issued its order in a sealed ruling after concluding that Fannie Mae sold back fraudulent loans by First Beneficial of Charlotte, N.C., without notifying regulators of the fraud. First Beneficial subsequently resold some of the loans to Ginnie Mae, which lost about $30 million as a result of the purchase. Three American lawmakers – Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee – asked Fannie Mae’s Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines in a December 1 letter to explain by January 14 why the company failed to reveal the sale of the bogus loans.

– Bloomberg News