Observers in the capital markets were watching events closely this week to determine whether top officials at Fannie Mae would be forced to resign in the wake of a huge accounting scandal that could produce $9 billion in unrecognized losses. The chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wednesday directed Fannie to restate its earnings from 2001 to mid-year 2004 because the firm improperly accounted for derivative instruments and failed to properly recognize…