Obama team makes further assurances on bailout aid

WASHINGTON Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama would commit up to $100 billion of the financial bailout money to address the home foreclosure crisis and require firms getting aid to have foreclosure mitigation programs, said a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday.

The letter was sent to Reid by Lawrence Summers, a former treasury secretary and Obama's designee to be the director of the National Economic Council.

Companies that receive the government assistance would also be required to get approval from their primary regulator before they could pay dividends to shareholders and executive compensation over a certain level would be limited to stock or other similar forms, the letter said. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by John O'Callaghan)