Obama reportedly on tap Fannie Mae chief to head TARP

Wednesday, Apr 15,2009, 10:53:37 AM Click:

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MarketWatch

April 13, 2009 Monday 9:24 PM EST

SECTION: NEWS & COMMENTARY; Markets

LENGTH: 255 words

HEADLINE: Obama reportedly to tap Fannie Mae chief to head TARP

BYLINE: John Letzing, MarketWatch mailto:jletzing@marketwatch.com.

John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama is expected to pick Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison to head the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday.

The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the administration is turning to Allison as an experienced manager "at a time when it is having trouble filling key finance posts."

Allison, 65, is the former chairman of investment company TIAA-CREF and was a Merrill Lynch & Co. executive. He took the reins at Fannie Mae (FNM) in September, after the government seized it and its sister firm Freddie Mac (FRE) .

Allison would replace Neel Kashkari, who was appointed to head TARP under the Bush administration and was asked to stay on until a replacement was found.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been searching for months for someone to run TARP, though candidates so far have either not made it through a vetting process or have pulled out of consideration, according to the report.

TARP was established last year as the financial markets were sent reeling, though it has become increasingly unpopular among recipient firms, which complain of the heightened scrutiny that comes with receiving associated aid.

Goldman Sachs (GS) , for example, said Monday it hopes to go ahead with a $5 billion equity offering to help it pay back the $10 billion in TARP funds it received.

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