Freddie Mac in market soon for new CEO - CEO Syron

(Attaches to news alert corrected to show company to be looking soon for new CEO, not to soon present new one)

NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the second-biggest provider of funding for U.S. home mortgages, is nearly ready to search for a new chief executive officer and split the roles of CEO and chairman, Chairman and CEO Richard Syron said on Wednesday.

The government-chartered company must split the two roles as part of an agreement with its regulator, which has said the move is part of a list of requirements that must be met before it can reduce an excess capital mandate. But the regulator last month said it would consider a "gradual" decrease.

"It seems to me (the regulator) could take into consideration where we are in the process" of splitting the roles in its capital decision, Syron told reporters at an analyst gathering in New York.

Freddie Mac may be "in the market shortly, very shortly," with its CEO search, Syron said. A succession committee has now transitioned to a search committee, he said. (Reporting by Al Yoon; Editing by James Dalgleish)