A corporation whose stock is publicly traded that was started or is backed by the government. Even though the company has close connections to the government, it is run independently of the government. An example of a quasi-public company is Fannie Mae, which was started by a congressional charter in order to encourage home ownership among low- to middle-income Americans. Other examples of quasi-public corporations are the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae), which packages student loans and resells them in the secondary market. The U.S. Postal Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are other quasi-public corporations.