NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae’s (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Freddie Mac’s (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) regulator will allow the mortgage financiers to raise as much as $20 billion in capital as part of an agreement that lets them buy more debt securities, Bloomberg News said on Friday.

“That’s the top end of the range,” said James Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, in an interview on Thursday, the report said.

The capital may take the form of common shares, preferred shares, or convertible preferred shares, and will need to be raised “sooner rather than later,” Lockhart said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2839746420080328