Obama to name Warren at 1:30 p.m. Friday at White House

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce his choice of Elizabeth Warren to help set up a new U.S. consumer financial watchdog at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) on Friday, an administration official said.

The president will make the announcement at an event in the White House Rose Garden.

Warren, a 61-year-old Harvard law professor and fierce critic of Wall Street, is to be named as a special adviser who would report to both the president and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Democratic sources say.

Naming her a special adviser would by-pass a potentially bruising Senate confirmation process. (Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Anthony Boadle)