WASHINGTON - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders, including preferred stockholders, will not fair well under a proposed US Treasury takeover of the two housing finance companies, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank told Reuters on Saturday.

'I think all shareholders will be disadvantaged,' Mr Frank said in a Reuters interview when asked if holders of preferred stock of the government sponsored enterprises could also be wiped out along with common stockholders under the Treasury plan.

Mr Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he spoke with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson late on Friday about a conservatorship plan. Frank said he still did not know the full details of the Treasury plan.

'The government will act as new management' of the two companies under such a conservatorship plan, Mr Frank said in a Reuters interview, adding that the companies will still carry out their housing missions. -- REUTERS