UPDATE 3-W.House eyes Warren for new U.S. consumer watchdog

* Geithner sees Warren as "exceptionally well qualified"

* White House official calls Warren a "strong voice"

* Other candidates also eyed for consumer watchdog role (Adds Treasury spokesman, MoveOn.org comments, background)

By Steve Holland and Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken consumer rights advocate feared by Wall Street, is among top contenders to head a new financial consumer watchdog bureau, a senior White House adviser said on Friday.

"There are other candidates as well. But Elizabeth is certainly a candidate to lead it," adviser David Axelrod told reporters on a conference call, calling Warren a "great champion of middle-class consumers."

"She's going to be a strong voice" whether she leads it or not, Axelrod said.

The Obama administration must soon make a handful of key appointments of regulators to implement the landmark financial reform bill approved by Congress on Thursday.

The future shape of bank oversight and the financial industry's profit outlook will, in part, be determined by how the regulators flesh out the details of the massive bill.

Warren is a Harvard Law School professor who has been chairing a congressional panel overseeing the 2008 bank bailout program. She is a strong critic of big banks and is widely opposed by Republicans who tried but failed to block the bill.

She has been viewed for some months as a front-runner to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will be set up within the Federal Reserve under the legislation. The watchdog bureau will regulate mortgages and credit cards.

A source close to the White House said that in addition to Warren, others being considered for the job are Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr and a Justice Department official, Eugene Kimmelman.

Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection Eric Stein has also been rumored to be under consideration.

The Huffington Post, an online news source, reported on Friday that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner opposes Warren. The two have clashed in months past over the Treasury-managed bailout program, which she has sharply criticized.

Asked about the report, Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams called Warren "a driving force behind" the new bureau.

"Secretary Geithner believes that Elizabeth Warren is exceptionally well qualified to lead the new bureau, and, ultimately, that's a decision the president will have to make," he said.

Concept Capital policy analysts Teddy Downey and Chris Krueger said in a research report that "many believe it would be impossible for (Warren) to be confirmed by the Senate."

But they said that President Barack Obama "could avoid a formal vote by appointing her during a congressional recess."

MoveOn.org, a influential liberal political advocacy group, on Friday endorsed Warren in a letter to members. "Elizabeth Warren will hold Wall Street's feet to the fire, and Americans deserve a strong advocate at the agency," the letter said.

Obama must also appoint soon a replacement for U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, whose term is expiring in August. He has said he will step down from his post as a high-level bank regulator.

In addition, the president must nominate someone for the newly created post of Federal Reserve vice chairman for supervision to handle bank regulation.

Daniel Tarullo, presently a Fed governor and regulatory expert, is seen as the most likely candidate. (Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Glenn Somerville; Editing by Eric Walsh)