Treasury TARP chief: govt won't micromanage firms

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Treasury's $700 billion bailout fund said on Thursday he intends to remain a largely passive shareholder in companies that it has bailed out, voting only on board and management issues.

"We believe it's not the job of the federal government to be micromanaging companies. If the government were to interfere too much, we might reduce the value of these companies," Herb Allison, assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability, told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, referring to the government's investments in General Motors Corp, Chrysler, American International Group (AIG.N) and Citigroup (C.N). (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by James Dalgleish)